Shattered Glass Prime
by Anonimosx
Summary: Transformers Prime is known as one of the most famous transformers series, the same as its timeline. But not everyone knows the mysterious version of Transformers: Shattered Glass; an alternative universe where the Autobots are evil and the Decepticons protect freedom. So here I present you this incredible story: Transformers Prime Shattered Glass Version! Enjoy and comment.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One- Meetings**

It's a peacefully afternoon at the desert of Jasper (Nevada), while down of the road there is a red and silver Corvette driving normally. The only strange thing about it was that no one was driving.

The car begins to speak with someone while on the move, "So there I am on a lookout when out of nowhere these red and blue beams light up my rearview. I instantly knew what was up, I was illegally parked!"

Meanwhile on the other side of the state, a white helicopter with pinks touches, which was flying above the desert, without a pilot, responded, "Another parking ticket?"

"Better… The boot!" The Corvette said on the other line.

"Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove."

"Bingo! So the local police did their thing, and I let the Tow-truck hauled me all the way down the block. That's when I kick off my new shiny tires, and BANG!"

"It seems like you like messing with the authorities."

"Well, you know me Airachnid. You mess with the incredible Vehicon Steve…"

"And you get into the mother of all troubles." The Corvette seemed to be laughing.

"But I'm not sure how that goes with Decepticon rule number one. Keep a low profile, huh?"

His response to Airachnid was, "What could I say? Patrolling for energon out here on dullest planet could get so lonesome. Almost makes me miss the Autobots."

"Like Jasper is a party. We're alone wherever we travel on this planet."

Steve's glove compartment opened to reveal radar. That was constantly beeping. "I'm getting a signal."

"Need backup?"

"Do I ever need backup?"

He went off-road. He went deeper and deeper in the woods and reached a clearing, in the center was a crater full of blue crystals.

"I just struck a rich mount of energon, this certainly will help us this week."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, a large shadow casted of the area. Steve rotated his rearview to see the worst thing that can be in the sky: the Autobots warship, a blood red with purple touches with an emblem with the same color: the Ark.

He changed into his robot mode, "Autobots!"

Immediately the warship fired one of its laser cannons at Steve. The blast explosion sent him flying to the crater, but he managed to get up to his feet very fast, but would come more bad news. The bottom hanger opened and a dozen of robots came out and landed on top of the mouth of the crater, because their appearance was very similar to his own, but in red purple skin and red visors, he knew that those were Autobot troopers, but they were not the worst.

"Hi there Con!" said an Autobot who lands in front of the Autobot troopers and Steve, and he directed his red optics to Steve. He recognized the Autobot by his blue and grey skin.

Seeing how the situation has drastically changed, "Airachnid. About that backup, I really need it five Earth minutes ago."

The blue and grey Autobot, who appeared to be in command of all troops, capture his attention.

"Cliffjumper! I not expect to see you as soon, but I thought you prefer to battle alone since you only go well with guys like Jazz." Steve said.

"Yeah, I usually do that way, but I want to see your face when I show you how helpless are you against my chances, especially a Vehicon."

"Listen here Cliff, this Vehicon has survived more than any of your fellas who accompanied you, so prepared yourselves, because I'll put a few dings in your chassis!" He transforms into his vehicle mode and drove fast enough to get out of the crater, killing instantly an Autobot trooper that was too close to the edge and was launched into midair. While in midair he change into his robot form as he descended to the Autobots, and manage to punch Cliffjumper in his face, sending him back to the trees.

"I admit it; I did not see that coming. Soldiers stand down, that Vehicon is mine; this is going to be fun."

The two bots face each other before begin to fight. Meanwhile, about 23 miles north of his position, a strange silver vehicle with a design very similar to a space ship with a red emblem was flying above the same desert.

At the moment, the jet received a transmission. "Airachnid to Megatron! The Autobots have returned! Steve requires backup immediately!"

"Understood." The jet responded, "Soundwave. Do you have Steve's coordinates?"

In the middle of Canada a white and golden MQ-9 reaper was patrolling by air. "Coordinates locked, but the entire team is scattered across the United States, charging ground bridge." Soundwave said.

Megatron made a roll call, "Airachnid, Breakdown, Knock Out, Stinger, Shockwave, Starscream, rendezvous at base and prepare to ground bridge to aid Steve." All vehicles soon moved again.

Surprisingly Steve was holding his own against Cliffjumper, but after a while fighting a matched adversary, he decide to cheat a little.

"I have enough, troopers, attack him!" Immediately, the other Autobots began to attack Steve, but he manages to take down a few, but after his battle with Cliffjumper he was weakened and the Autobots started to do damage to him. The last hit, made by Cliffjumper, sent him back into the crater. Steve decided to attack them from distance. "You want to mess with me? Well here is your reward!"

Steve changed his arm to a blaster and shot lasers against the Autobots, killing a few of them.

"Return fire!" Cliffjumper said after change to his own blasters.

The Autobots fired so many lasers that some of them hit the energon crystals.

"Everyone get cover, it's going to blow!" Cliffjumper said before he and the remaining Autobots get away from the followed explosion.

In the near area of the crater, full with blue flames, remained Steve's body, fortunately he was still alive, but other ones discover him.

"It seems that Vehicons are more resisting than I thought. Let's see how much you resist when our commander meets you." Cliffjumper said before the Autobot troopers grip Steve and followed him inside the Ark.

In the bridge there was a giant dark grey Autobot, who appeared to be in charge of the ship, was watching a replay of the explosion on the main screen, and he was very angry.

"Incompetents! The energon it's worthless to me now!"

"Look on the bright side general; we pick up something more interesting. Well, it's someone." Cliffjumper said before the Autobot troopers delivered Steve to the giant Autobot.

"Well well, I didn't expect to find Decepticon resistant very soon, especially from this kind of trooper. I didn't know that there's still Vehicons on Earth."

"Grimlock, it's being a while." Steve coughs up a little bit of energon. "So, where is your master?"

"Never mind him, no one controls Grimlock!" Grimlock grabs Steve, drew a sword and plunge it into Steve's chest a couple of times, causing him great pain. "Understood?" Energon starts leaking out of Steves wounds as Grimlock pulled out his sword, and Steve's lifeless body falls to the floor.

"He really doesn't care how leaves the ground." Cliffjumper said.

"Clean that up!" Grimlock ordered the Autobot troopers.

The Ark left the area, just in that moment a green vortex appeared and a lot of vehicles come through. A yellow cybertronian tank with blue touches turns into a cyclops robot with cannon in place of an arm; the white helicopter transforms into a female like robot with horns on her head, parts similar to spider's legs coming from her back and beautiful pink eyes; a silver F-16 Fighting Falcon turns into a robot with wings and missiles in his arms; a blue car turns into a normal side robot; another sports car in brown turns into a similar one but his face was covered by a battle visor; a red heavy armored car turns into a yellow eyes robot who seems to be very strong; the white and golden reaper transforms into a robot with thin arms and a mask covering his face; the cybertronian jet was the last and also transformed into a big robot with blue eyes and a big cannon in his arm which appearance resembled a gladiator, but all those robots had one thing in common: they fight for freedom. They aim their weapons ready for combat, but there wasn't anyone or anything in the zone, so they lowered their weapons.

"An untapped energon deposit." Shockwave said.

"Or what's left of it." Knock Out said.

"This has been the first Autobot activity in three solar-cycles." Starscream added.

"That we know of." Megatron stated. "But if they're scouting for energon now, they may be preparing for his return."

The Decepticons advanced closer to the site and scatter to look around the area.

Suddenly, Knock Out detects something in his scanners. "Lord Megatron, my scanners have detected something near, it's coming right there."

Airachnid reach the place Knock Out points, but she gasped in horror of what she saw: one piece of Steve's armor. "No." She said in sad tone taken it.

"Soundwave, can you track his position?" Megatron asked.

"Affirmative." A screen appears on Soundwave's mask where were on nine green dots, but one of them began to turn in red. "My liege, Steve's life signal just went offline" Soundwave said sadly.

"I will miss him so much." Breakdown said sadly.

"The only thing that we can do is give Steve's remains a proper burial." Megatron said.

All the Decepticons went back to the ground bridge with pain, but Airachnid was the one who was really hurt, her friend was gone. Meanwhile, in the Ark's bridge, Grimlock was monitoring the ship's scanners when a steel color skin bot with an appearance and a face covered by a monitor like Soundwave approached him.

"Blaster, what is it?" He replayed the conversation between Airachnid and Steve. "So there is another one. Why should we just slay one Decepticon when we can take down one more?"

The Decepticons gather around a pile of rocks on the top of their base, Megatron makes a speech. "We must not allow our anger over the loss of Steve to impair our judgement. As of today only we eight Decepticons remain on this Earth. We owe it to ourselves. To the memories of Cybertron. To any Decepticon in any galaxy seeking safe harbor." Airachnid places Steve's armor on top of the pile. "To humankind, and we owe it to the memory of our fallen comrade, to survive, till all are one."

After the ceremony, Airachnid began to move towards the nearest town.

"Airachnid?" Megatron asked for her condition.

"Standing around here sulking won't bring Steve back. I need some time alone… so I'm going to get back to protecting humankind." After said that she changed to her helicopter mode and take fly.

"Lord Megatron, helping humans will only result in war tragedy." Starscream said.

"Your opinion has been noted, old friend." replied Megatron.

Meanwhile in Jasper, the live of all people continued to be normal, but everything was going to change for a specific teenage boy of 16 years old, name Jack Darby, who now was working.

"Hello. Welcome to KO Drive in, where every patty is a knockout. May I take your order?" replied Jack from behind the counter in the dullest, most monotone voice ever conceived.

"Yeah, I'll have two number two's and a couple of fries."

"Ok, two twos and fries, anything else?"

"Yeah some advice, how do I get a job as amazing as yours?" the customer asked sarcastically before laughing it up with his friends.

"So, that's two "We're not as funny as we think we are combos" with a side of "BITE ME!" replied Jack.

"Hey, what did you say?!"

$5.59, sir. At the window." He spat out.

A car drove up and when he wasn't looking made the meals disappear.

"Hey! Now I have to pay it."

On the other side of the town Airachnid was scouting the area when she notices two red and purple motorcycles just below her.

"Twins, hum? I better take an eye on them." Airachnid said to herself. She decided to hide to watch them closely, hidden behind a place called a "Drive in". "Okay, they will come soon. So I can take five minutes to rest." She said before shutting down her systems.

Right in that moment Jack had finished his turn so he was heading home when his phone began to buzz.

"Hey mom, I just got off. No, I'm not going into dance, experience suggest I should never go on rock, unless is about a kind of car. Be careful, really? This is Jasper. What kind of things can happen here-?" He looked toward the back of the "Drive in" and he could not believe what he was watching: an incredible white helicopter parked in his job place. "I love you… Yeah I love you too mom, I got a run. Hello beautiful, where are you been all my life?" He opened the door and sit on the pilot seat. "You're incredible. I want to, but I'm not sure if I am ready to take fly in a master piece like you."

"By the Allspark, humans have really strange relationships with their vehicles, but these are the nicest things anyone has said about me, he's almost blushing me." Airachnid thought herself.

"Are you talking with your helicopter?" asked a new voice.

Jack looked up to see a teenager girl and her younger sister standing in front of him and snickering.

"To my helicopter? No no no, it's not mine, I'm more interested on cars and motorcycles and I'm not talking to it. How are you Sierra?"

Airachnid adjusted to see the Autobots motorcycles approach her. "Come on smooth operator, wrap this up."

"You know my name?!" Sierra asked.

"Sure, we're in home room together. I'm Jack. Jack Darby." He was cut off by a bright light coming from the other side of the street. Two red and purple motorcycles were coming for them. Sierra and her sister ran off leaving Jack.

"Scrap." Airachnid said as she close the door and ignites her engines with Jack inside.

"Brace yourself, and don't open the doors!" Airachnid said.

"Who said that?!" Jack yelled not knowing what the hell was going on.

The helicopter was able to blast off before the motorcycles reach her, but they manage to track her signal and commence a chase.

"General Grimlock, target located, accompanied by a human youth." reported one of the Autobots.

"Destroy them both, and bring me their heads!" he ordered.

"The Con is a helicopter, we require air support." said the other one.

They arrived down an alleyway before the helicopter's door opened and Jack was able to get out.

"What are you, some kind of automatic helicopter which no needs of pilot?!"

The helicopter readjusted itself to face him, "Listen to me. I don't exist. Tell anyone about me and I will hunt you down. Understand?" she barked at the young human.

"O-Okay." He responded.

"Then go!" she shouted making him run away of sight. During that time Airachnid tried to gain the Autobots's attention, but the second decided to chase Jack.

"Scrap, not the boy." She decided to turn around and follow the second Autobot, ignoring the first one.

Jack thought he was safe, until one of the motorcycles was chasing him down.

"I don't even know her!" he shouted, trying to reason with it, but it seems no use. But fortunately he saw the same helicopter flying over him with its door opened.

"Climb up!"

"What about that guy?!"

"Don't worry, I cover you!" she said before activate two laser cannons which appeared to the sides and fired lasers against the Autobot, giving him enough time to climb aboard the vehicle again. "Thanks."

"Don't tell that, now hang on!"

When they were upon the motorway the Autobots had enough and armed themselves with their laser turrets and began shooting at the Con.

"Why are those guys shooting at us?!" Jack asked.

"There is no us kid, and they're no guys."

The bots were chasing them on the road for a while, but suddenly they were smashed out of the way by the same brown sports car, without harming any human drivers.

"Friendly of yours?" Jack asked looking through the window.

"Family." Airachnid responded.

The sports car tried its best to keep the motorcycles from Airachnid, but was overtook and left behind.

"Well, now we're safe, right?"

"Hum, I would not relax if I were you" she said discovering a new treat coming from air: a military helicopter with the same colors that the motorcycles had. She knew by experience what was that, seeing how well armed was that Autobot.

"We need to go back to ground, or that thing is going to take us down! Brace yourself!"

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the bridge sat a little genius of 12 years old named Rafael whose life would be changed forever by the same way, but now he was playing with his remote toy car until his phone buzz.

"Hi mom. Down at the bridge, racing. Oh come on, just five more minutes, okay? Thanks momma."

Meanwhile the Autobot helicopter began to launch missiles against Airachnid, whose only option was to land on the bottom of the bridge. Raphael couldn't believe what he was seeing. A helicopter land immediately in front of him and a boy of 16 walked out looking like he was going to be sick.

"Woah!" Raf exclaimed.

"Uggh…You have no idea." Jack replied very peaky.

"That was incredible, my name is Rafael, but everyone call me Raf."

"Name's Jack Darby, now I suggest you to go home and fast."

"Why?" Raf asked.

At that moment the two same motorcycles drove down the hill, over the ramp and transform mid-air. Just then, Airachnid transformed as well.

"This ends here Autobots!" she exclaimed to them.

The Autobot troopers began to fired laser shoots at Airachnid, who deployed her spider legs to avoid and jump, getting more close to them and start fighting them. Jack and Raf only could look on in some strange mix of fear, terror, awe, confusion and excitement.

"W-W-What are they?" Raf asked.

"Talking vehicles that turn into robots… or the other way around." Jack responded, still unsure himself.

Airachnid managed to knockout one of her enemies and now she was facing the other. "This is for Steve!" she said while she kicked his face.

She finally took down the two Autobots and immobilizes them with a kind of web coming from her hands, but suddenly something fired her from the sky, it was the same helicopter which turns into another Autobot, more bigger than the other two. Airachnid tried to take him down, but this one was more resistant and strong, so she only managed to do a simple dent. This allowed the Autobot to fire with a sniper rifle on the Decepticon, which forced knockout to go back, only to be hit in the chest mid-air. The bot began to approach, but was cut off by the brown sports car from before, who turns into a robot too and start punching him very hard. After taken him out, Stinger heard a crunching from under his foot. He looked under to see the human child's toy car crushed.

"( **I'm so sorry; I didn't know it was there!** )" Stinger apologized, speaking by some kind of noises.

"Don't worry, it's okay. Really." Raf said.

Jack was going to ask him how he understood that, but immediately Stinger was shot by the two recovered motorcycle Autobots. He was about to get up, but they put the helicopter Autobot put his foot over him, and Stinger could only turn around to look the Autobots charging their weapons.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Raf said to them with great courage. But when the Autobots saw him he was very nervous. "Please."

"Bad call." Jack said taken Raf.

"You get them, we'll guard these Decepticon scum." The Autobot helicopter ordered to one of the troopers.

Jack and Raf began to run as the Autobot walked after them. They tried to escape getting inside a service tunnel. The Autobot tried to catch them reaching in his hand but he was dragged out and they see the friendly face of the brown robot.

"( **Don't worry, you're safe now. And thanks for the distraction.** )" Stinger said.

"Ok, you're welcome." Raf said.

"Come on, let's get moving." Jack said.

"What did we just see?" Raf asked.

"I don't know. And I'm not sure I want to find out". Jack said while they go to the other side of the tunnel.

With the humans safe and very far, Airachnid and Stinger could terminate the Autobots with ease now, but they were outnumbered and the Autobot helicopter launched a couple of missiles over them. They manage to dodge them, but only to get hit by the motorcycle Autobots. They manage to get up and engage round two when they heard some noise from behind them. They looked back to see the red armored van named Breakdown transform and unveil a hammer.

"Okay, who is ready to rumble?" Breakdown said.

The Autobots knew that they couldn't win now and decide to retreat back to the warship in their vehicle forms.

"What take you so long?" Airachnid asked.

"Traffic. You don't know how bad it is." Breakdown answered.

Shortly after that, they all were in their base reporting the situation. "And the Bots would have been less than scrap metal if it weren't for the humans." Airachnid finished explaining the events to Megatron.

"Humans?" Megatron asked interested.

"( **Two young boys.** )" Stinger said.

"I guess the second one caught us in middle of the action, I don't know. I was a little busy at the time." Airachnid responded.

"If the Autobots are targeting us, anyone seems as our ally will be at grave risk. Those boys needs now our protection, and is crucial for them to know why." Megatron concluded.

The next day Jack was walking outside the school, where there was Raf.

"Hey Raf." He said walking up to him. "Look some crazy stuff went down yesterday, so I think we should just keep it between us and not speak about it again."

"Jack, look." Raf said surprised and happy.

At that moment, the same brown sports car pulled up in front of them and opened its back door.

"Oh no, not again." Jack said nervous.

"( **Don't be scare little one; I only want to take you to a place where we can explain everything to you.** )" Stinger said.

"It…wants us…to get in?" Jack asked.

"No, just me." Raf said.

"Well how do you know?"

"It said so. Yours is over there." Raf points another roof where Airachnid was landed.

"Raf we should just go home and…Raf?"

Before Jack could realize, Raf had already stepped in and the car took off.

"Hey, wait!" He shouted after they were gone. "No freaking way!" Jack thought to himself before began to walk home.

Outside the school there was a Japanese girl with weird hair of 15 years old who had been drawing the helicopter parked over a roof until her phone caught her attention.

"Host parents? Ignore." She silenced her phone and continued drawing. "Coolest … machine…ever!" She looked back up, only to see that the helicopter disappeared. But she saw it flying low around the corner and she knew had to catch up with it.

Meanwhile Jack was walking carefully in a close street, hoping that he will not see that thing again, but he finds the same vehicle in front of him coming from the other side of the street.

"Easy, I just want to talk to you." Airachnid said.

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?" Jack said angrily.

"Kid, there is a lot that you don't understand." She said calm.

"No it's cool, I get it. The first rule of Robot Fight Club is don't talk about Robot Fight Club. But you have to understand I don't want a bunch of talking vehicles following me around trying to get me killed!"

Airachnid had transformed to be more personal. "Look. Jack, is it? Your personal safety is exactly why Megatron has requested your presence."

"Wait, Mega-what?"

"Jack, your safety is at risk because you are one of the few. One of the only who have ever seen us!" Airachnid explained.

"Dude, what are you waiting for? Go with her!" Miko exclaimed from the corner.

"Scrap."

Moments later Stinger and Airachnid were taken the kids to the Decepticon base, Raf riding Stinger and Miko with Jack inside Airachnid.

"Remind me, why are we bringing her?" Jack asked.

"Rules." Airachnid responded.

They were getting very close to a hill, but suddenly a secret entrance just opened. Inside there was a military base built inside the hill, and they saw a lot of advanced mechanical structures and five more robots with the same blue eyes. They got out of the vehicles and allowed them to transform.

"I thought there were only…two?" Shockwave inquired.

"Haven't you heard? Humans multiply." Airachnid said.

"I'm Raf."

"I'm Miko. Who are you?" Miko asked immediately.

"Breakdown." He replied hesitantly.

"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck, a monster truck! You like heavy metal? How much do you weight? Do you use a wrecking ball for punching guys?" Miko asked with no leave time for answers.

"So if you guys are robots, who made you?" Raf asked.

"Ugh! Please!" Starscream said.

From behind them came the tallest of all those robots. Besides his ferocious appearance, his face's expression reassures the children he was a kind soul.

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Decepticons. Do not let our name frighten you. It was a name given to us by our enemies to strike fear into others, but we wear it as a symbol of our goals, to protect innocent lifeforms from tyranny." Megatron explained to them.

"Why are you here?" Jack asked.

"To protect your planet from the Autobots." Megatron said.

"The jokers who tried to bump us off yesterday." Airachnid added.

"Ok, but why are they here?"

"A fair question Jack. In part, they are here because Cybertron is now uninhabitable, ravaged and consumed by eons of civil war." Megatron explained.

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked.

"The main cause of the war was over political idealism: we fight for truth, freedom and equality. The Autobots fight for power, conquest and supremacy over other lifeforms. Secondly was for control of our world supply of energon, the lifeblood of all cybertronians, Decepticons and Autobots alike. The combat was fierce and endured for millions of years. In the beginning, the leader of the Autobots was one whom I considered a brother, he was humble and honest. But in war ideals can be corrupted, so he betrayed me in order to fulfil his own selfish lust of power. And it was thus that Optimus Prime, Warlord of Iacon was born…" Megatron explained carefully.

"You're going to ask?" Miko told to Jack.

"So, what does Optimus or any of this…have to do with us?" Jack asked.

"Optimus has not been seen or heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic for all of us." Megatron said.

Meanwhile on the Ark, Blaster approached Grimlock for communicating something to him.

"Those transmissions are emanating from deep space, it could be a glitch and I would hate to waste the energon. Unless you are absolutely certain." Blaster nodded his head. "Then lock on these transmissions coordinates, and activate the Space Bridge." Grimlock ordered to an Autobot trooper.

Out in Earth's orbit a giant cybertronian structure was activated, creating a big green vortex similar to the Ground Brigde. Suddenly, an object drove through the vortex, a cybertronian heavy truck, dark red and with purple touches and the same purple emblem of the Autobots with a trailer transporting some kind of purple crystals. It transforms into a tall sinister robot with blood red eyes and sharp teeth with an evil smile with a battle face cover. The leader of the Autobots had returned: Optimus Prime.

"AUTOBOTS, I HAVE RETURNED!" He said triumphal.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two- Back to the Action**

The Ark slowly descended above a mountain, constantly sending Autobot miners in and out with piles of energon while there were protected by a lot of soldiers. On the top of the mine, Grimlock stands accompanied by other three Autobots with the same red eyes: one grey which could turn into a sports car named Bumblebee; other was dark brown which appearance showed that he was very strong and turned into a heavy car, known as Bulkhead; and the last one, who could turn into an ambulance and had toxic green skin was Ratchet, the sinister Autobot medic and scientist, known by the Decepticons as the Doctor of Doom. Ratchet seemed to be talking with someone.

"So, this is our largest energon mine?" A new visitor asked inside the shadows.

"Indeed my liege. Of all the energon deposits that we have located on this planet during your absence, this one is by far the most significant." Ratchet explained.

"The drones have been mining without pause and we have amassed quiet a stockpile. You there, fetch me a sample, now!" Grimlock shouted.

"Grimlock!" Optimus said emerging from the shadows. "Now that I have returned, I will issue the commands. Don't ever forget who is really in charge."

"I understand, Optimus Prime, master." Grimlock said turning back.

"Je, it seems that the party is over for him." Bulkhead said. "But is good to have the boss back."

"In the name of all the Autobots on Earth, welcome back, our liege." Ratched added.

"( **We miss you so much Optimus. We have remained loyal to your cause, some more than others.** )" Bumblebee said looking to Grimlock.

"And I'm pleased to know that you're still the same like those who fight long ago against the same adversaries, so there will be deserved praise and rewards." Optimus said putting a hand on Bee's shoulder.

No one known that with that touch a strange electric shock flowed through Bumblebee, but he didn't feel anything.

"Then we shall ready the space bridge to bring forth the Autobot army that you have gathered during your time in space?" Ratchet asked.

"My army will come. But my time away has yielded a more intriguing means of materializing them." Optimus said.

"What do you mean by that?" Bee said. "Uh!"

"Bee! You talked, with your own voice!" Bulkhead said impressive.

"Impossible, your voice box is already damaged!" Ratchet reminded. "Unless…"

"That is the meaning of what I said about rewards for loyalty." Optimus affirmed about the thing that appended when he touched Bumblebee.

"But how?" Bee asked, eager to know answers.

"That was a little demonstration about the power I'm learning to drive, the same force where my new army will come. The solidified form of the matter the ancient texts refer to… as the Blood of Unicron." Optimus concluded showing a purple energon shard.

"Unicron the Destroyer? I thought it was only a legend." Grimlock said.

"And it is said his blood is the Anti-Spark." Bulkhead added.

"Plucked from cosmic shores. Gaze upon dark energon." Optimus said.

"Impressive, a new power source that can open us a lot of possibilities. I can't wait to begin all kind of research with this substance, especially on test subjects from this world." Ratchet said sinisterly.

"Oh no old friend, this power is only for my personal use. Unless you have my permission, no one would dare to experience the same power than I, understood?"

"Of course Prime."

"Legends tell that it holds the power to reanimate the dead." Bee said.

"We only require a cadaver to see it that is true." Optimus realized before see all the Autobots. "Which one of you is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?"

"That will not be necessary. If I may, my liege." Grimlock ordered two Autobot troopers to bring him the corpse of Steve. "Consider it a welcome home present."

Optimus's answer was an evil smile.

Meanwhile in the Decepticon base, Megatron finished his tale. "And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night, the Autobots know of yours."

"Got it. If we spot any strange vehicles call 9-11." Jack concluded. "Can we go now?"

"Are you insane? I'm living a dream here in Bot-swana, and I'm not going to allow you or anyone to shatter it!" Miko warned.

"It is best that you three remain under our watch, at least until we can determine our enemies intentions." Megatron finished.

"Lord Megatron, with all due respect, the human children are in much danger here as anywhere." Starscream commented.

"Children?" Jack asked.

"Starscream has a logical point. The humans have no protective shell; if they get underfoot they will go… squish." Shockwave said before he takes a big loud step to prove his point.

"Then for the time being, Shockwave, Starscream; we must watch where we step." Megatron concluded.

Momentarily after an alarm was triggered and a flashing green light, so Shockwave turned back to the computer with Soundwave.

"What's that?" Jack asked with concern.

"( **Don't worry; it is our proximity sensors, which tell us someone comes from the base's top.** )" Stinger said.

"Proximity sensor. Someone's on top." Raf translated.

Soundwave opened a window on the screen, revealing a helicopter and a tall man in military uniform with no hair walking to an elevator door on the mountain. "Lord Megatron, its Agent Silas."

"I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys." Jack said.

"Special Agent Silas is our designated liaison to the outside world, as he tends to visit only when there are issues. It would be best that not meet him at this time." Megatron explained, and the kids hid behind some metal boxes.

The elevator made it's decent to the main haul, the doors opened and Agent Silas entered the base, but he did not seem very happy.

"I will summarize: seven wrecks, thirty four fender-benders, a three hour traffic jam on a particular note; numerous reports of a military helicopter with strange colors flying with no authorization and a brown muscle car." Silas said looking at Airachnid and Stinger. "So, anything you have not told me, Megatron?"

"We have the situation under control, Agent Silas."

"They're back, aren't they?"

"If you are referring to the Autobots, I had doubts that they ever left. Your planet is too valuable."

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon."

"Hear me, Agent Silas. We are your best, possibly your only defense against the Autobot threat."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Hey fleshy!" Breakdown interrupted. "Did anyone get caught by the crossfire? The Decepticons knows when to use force and how much to use." He ripped off a mechanical arm on the table and squeezed it until broke into pieces.

"Watch out Breakdown, I just buffed that!" Knock Out complained for what Breakdown has done.

"Enough!" Megatron shouted before turning back to Silas. "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Silas. I, however, cannot."

"Then do us both a favor and handle this, Megatron. Under the radar." Agent Silas said as he went back to the elevator. "Or I will." The doors closed and sent the agent back to the surface.

"Pretty big bearings, for a human." Starscream said.

"Agent Silas is concerned for his world, Starscream. As he should be." Megatron responded.

Meanwhile inside the energon mine, Optimus was going to test the dark energon on Steve's body.

"Let us see if power born of darkness can reignite the spark." He put the purple shard in Steve's spark chamber and suddenly the body consumed it completely.

After that, the dead was alive, but it's was very different from the being that he was before. It had purple eyes, and let out a horrific screech before broken free from his restrains and attacked the nearest Autobot. He was destroying him slowly as another Autobot trooper tried to shoot him, but the hits didn't get him down and he went for him after finish with the first one. Optimus was impressed, not like his followers who were terrified.

"That's your plan?! Bring back our dead enemies so they can attack us again?!" Bulkhead asked terrified.

"That is no longer a Decepticon. It's just a mindless creature, which only instinct to destroy anything in its path." After finished with the troopers, the zombie lunged at Optimus and his Autobots, but the tyrant was fast enough to cut it in half with his sword, making it fall off the ledge. "There, Autobots, the rise of the indestructible seed of my army: Terrorbots. The ultimate weapon." The zombie upper half was still hooked to the ledge, but then Optimus kicked it off down to a lower level of the cave. "Once I learnt to control it."

At that moment in the Decepticon base, the computer showed an image of Steve and a pulse.

"Lord Megatron, Steve's life signal just popped back online." Soundwave announced.

"Who's Steve, another human who knows about you?" Miko asked.

"How is that possible?" Megatron added.

"Origin unknown." Soundwave responded.

"It could be a bug, the system is full of them." Shockwave added.

"But maybe there is a chance Steve is still alive, Soundwave doesn't make mistakes." Airachnid said, hoping her friend was fine.

"Shockwave, prepare sickbay, we might need it." Megatron said.

"Hey! What can we do?" Miko shouted.

"Remain here with Shockwave." Megatron answered, causing Miko to groan as Shockwave nodded.

When the Ground Bridge portal opened all the Decepticons were ready.

"Decepticons, transform and rise up!" All of them ran and transformed into vehicle driving into the vortex.

"What just happened?" Jack asked.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates by the ground bridge." Shockwave answered.

"What's a ground bridge?" Raf asked.

"A scale down version of space bridge technology. It allows us to connect two places across the universe and create a tunnel for two way travel. But since we don't currently possess the means or the energon required for intergalactic travel…"

"You're stuck here on Earth." Jack finished.

"Correct. So I constructed the ground bridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet."

"Woah. Does it work on humans alike?" Raf asked impressed by that invention.

"Naturally."

"You mean I could just hop on over and visit my parents on Tokyo?" Miko asked.

"Within moments. Why don't you allow me to send you three to there right now?" Shockwave asked, hoping to see if he can make some ground bridge research.

"Watch it Shockwave." Miko said.

The ground bridge opened inside the mine and the Decepticons emerged and shifted back into robot form with their guns ready.

"It's an energon mine." Knock Out stated.

"Judging by its scale the Autobots have been tunneling for quite some time." Starscream added.

Right in from of them the Autobots continuing to mine out the energon. "Let's find Steve." Megatron said as they approached them, making the miners run away while the soldiers prepared for combat. So are the Decepticons.

The team had no trouble getting through the first line of Autobots soldiers, but they had a difficult time taking down the workers armed with electric generators and the drill vehicles, fortunately Megatron and Breakdown had no problem with them. They continued advancing through the mine fighting Autobots. Inside the base Shockwave was trying to be patient with the children, especially with Miko.

"What is this?" Miko asked looking a strange device.

"Something not finished, don't touch it." Shockwave said. Miko tried to know what was it, but Shockwave seemed to be watching her without looking. "I mean it."

"Is there anything in here we can touch?" Jack asked.

Shockwave tried to get access to the computer, but the screen showed an Access Denied window, which frustrated him.

"How come you guys are using human computers?" Raf asked.

"We didn't have any choice. This missile silo was the only thing that we could reclaim as base of operations. Soundwave and I made some modifications to adjust it to cybertronian network, but it seems more complicated than I though." Shockwave said as he tried to fix the problem.

"I think I can fix that."

"Really? You must understand this is complex technology. It's not a child's toy." Shockwave said while Raf was plugging his laptop and did something.

"Try it now." Raf suggested.

Shockwave did so and surprisingly all Access Denied disappeared and an Access Allowed appeared in its place, the screen was back to normal. Shockwave looked back at Raf with astonishment. "Fascinating. How does one so young possess such knowledge?"

"I have a lot of free time." Raf answered. Though he had no visible mouth, Shockwave was smiling.

The Decepticons eliminated the entire Autobot squad, yet another wave was coming, so they decided to travel by fast way.

"Maximum overdrive!" Megatron said as he and the other Decepticons changed to vehicle mode and pass through all their enemies.

They reach to the center of the mine, so they hid behind some creates.

"Quiet an operation they've done." Breakdown said before they were bombed by the Autobots shots, but they began to fire back.

Inside a room of the Ark, Optimus stood before an entire chunk of dark energon.

"Blood of Unicron, how might I fathom the depths of your mystery? Become worthy of wielding your astonishing power?"

"Optimus, intruders have been detected in the mines." Bumblebee said through a communicator terminal.

"Decepticons?"

"Yes, Megatron is with them too."

"I need more time to prepare an appropriate reception for my old friend. Ready the ship for depurator."

"What about the Decepticons? All the energon we've mined will fall in their hands!" Grimlock shouted.

"Then blow the mine." Optimus responded.

Inside the mine the gunfight was still going on. Airachnid spotted a figure that lying on the third level.

"I think I see Steve, on the third level." Airachnid shouted.

"We'll cover you, go!" Megatron ensured.

She used her spider mode to avoid the laser shots while the others managed to make a path for her. She used her webs to swing and reach the third floor. She saw Steve missing his lower half. Some shots of the Autobot troopers hit the pillar supporting the floor, making it collapse.

"Steve!" She managed to grab him with her webs. "Hold on partner, we'll get you home."

He looked at her, but his face was now very terrifying that she lost grip of him and his remains fell into a spike full of energon, killing him instantly. There was a maniacal laugh, coming from Grimlock, who has a bomb in his hand.

"Megatron! I would like to stay but I have urgent business, so I left this present for you guys." He activated the bomb and dropped into the pile of energon while he goes aboard the warship's elevator.

"It's a bomb, the timer it's almost out!" Starscream said.

"This place is going to blow!" Knock Out added.

"Decepticons, let's get out of here!" Megatron ordered as all the team transformed and began to run away from the followed explosion. "Soundwave, bridge us back. Use the arrival coordinates, now!"

"Immediately." Soundwave opened a Ground Bridge portal and the Cons got through in the neck of time.

Soundwave managed to shut down the portal once all the Decepticons passed across in time, although some of the flames went through. The humans were at awe.

"Cutting it a bit close. Where is Steve?" Shockwave asked, but they all just lowered their heads and shook slowly with sadness.

"What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I go next time?" Miko asked without pause.

"Look…" Airachnid said angrily.

Fortunately before Miko could say another thing Jack cut in. "Hey Miko, let's go see what the Cons hide in their socks draws."

"Airachnid, what did you see?" Megatron questioned.

"It wasn't Steve, at least not anymore. He was mutated, butchered like something from those Autobots experiments during the war." She explained until she trembled to her knees.

"( **Airachnid! Are you hurt?** )" Stinger asked worried.

"I'm fine, just dizzy." She said.

"Robots who can get dizzy?" Miko asked.

"Robots with feelings." Raf observed.

"Robots…who can die." Jack stated.

Knock Out scanned Airachnid with a blue light all over her body, and suddenly he got a red reading on her right hand.

"What is this?" Knock Out asked, observing a strange purple substance.

"Don't know, but Steve was covered in it. Leaking it."

"I want to know exactly was it's this thing. Let me take a sample." Shockwave scrapped it off with experiment blade.

"You better take a decontamination bath. Stinger, give me a hand." Knock Out said.

Stinger helped Knock Out to carry Airachnid to sickbay.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt but I can't get a signal" Jack said showing his phone.

"A security precaution, the silo walls isolate all radio waves, prevents our enemies locate us." Soundwave explained.

"But if I don't phone my mom, I'm sure the cops will be out looking for me."

"Have you broken the law?" Starscream asked.

"No, I'll just be breaking curfew. It's nearly 10." Jack explained.

"Yeah, I better get home too. My mom will ground me for a year!" Raf expressed.

"Humans customs, I hadn't considered." Megatron said chuckling a little. "But the issue of your safety remains. Breakdown, accompany Miko home."

"Awesome! My home parents will freak!" Miko said.

"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form."

"Curbside duty, got it liege." Breakdown said, making Miko groaned.

"Stinger, you'll do the same for Rafael."

"( **With pleasure, Lord Megatron.** )" Stinger nodded looking anxiously towards Raf.

"Knock Out…" Megatron began.

"I'm busy helping Shockwave with his analysis." Knock Out said.

"Airachnid, you'll watch over Jack." Megatron called her seeing her return from the bath.

"Oh, I'm still dizzy." She said.

"You're fine, don't think any excuses." Starscream reminded.

Airachnid carried Jack to his house, but he had something to tell her.

"Airachnid, I just want to say that I share your pain." Jack said.

"Why do you say that?" She asked.

"I'm just trying to help you in this moment." He replied.

"Well excuse me but you don't know what I'm feeling." Airachnid said angrily shifting to her robot form.

"I do."

She remained shocked when she heard that.

"My family is not the one what I want to have; it's only me and my mom."

"What about your father?" She asked.

"He's not part of my life." Jack said coldly. "That's the reason I'm here when you need someone to support you or if you need to talk to anyone."

"Thanks Jack, I didn't have idea that our situations were very similar."

Just then they heard a car approaching them.

"Scrap, Autobots." Airachnid said aiming her weapons at the car.

"No! It's my mother! Hide, hurry!" Jack said before go to the car.

"Jack?" Her mom said getting of the car, named June Darby.

"Mom, don't panic I can explain." Jack said.

"Can you?" She said as she walked next to the helicopter. "Jackson Darby, I did not expect this from you. I worry about you enough when you're not here, and I would worry more if you were going on a motorcycle, but this?! Do you know that you're too young to try to fly a helicopter?"

"I'm sixteen; I can't be riding in a ten-speed forever."

"How did you even afford this?" She demanded.

"Actually is borrowed, from a friend, he said that I don't need to learn how to drive her, she's automatic. But the point is I maybe was a kid when I dreamed to drive something, but I'm not anymore. You always told me to make responsible choices, well, I choose her, and I'll be responsible, I promise." Jack explained.

"Her? I didn't expect you to bringing girls home just yet."

"I like to think she brought me."

"Well, I'm glad you have a reason to wear the seat belt, every single time you fly! You will take me for a spin every once and awhile?" June asked as she entered home.

"We'll see. She's kind of temperamental." Jack concluded as she followed her mother, leaving Airachnid outside the house.

The next morning, Jack was awakened by Airachnid's noises. "Shh, are you crazy? You'll wake up my mom." Jack said.

"Prepare yourself, time to go." Airachnid said.

"Uhhh. It's Saturday." Jack groaned.

"Don't be mad, you can watch cartoons back at base with Stinger."

"Ugh, cartoons. I'm sixteen." Jack grumbled before going to get his stuff.

"And leave a note for your mom, she worries!" Airachnid finished.

Aboard the Ark, Optimus Prime and the other Autobots were standing in front of the dark energon.

"I don't think you need to worry about further Decepticon interference, master. And not with Megatron gone." Grimlock said.

"What makes you think that, Grimlock?" Bulkhead asked.

"I destroyed the mines as our liege instructed, and there is nothing which can survive that kind of explosion."

"I'm not sure Megatron is gone."

"Bumblebee is right; Megatron is not so easily destroyed. We have millennia worth of battles behind us to prove it, but the next time he comes, I'll be there to confront him again." Optimus said while he contemplates the dark energon.

"Maybe you should take a break, my liege. Maybe too much contact with the dark energon might allow its properties to greatly you." Cliffjumper added.

"Or perhaps, I have not permitted myself contact enough!" Optimus said ripping of a piece of dark energon.

"No!" Bumblebee said knowing what was inside his master's mind.

"Are you mad?!" Grimlock shouted.

"Optimus, wait! Not your spark chamber! Dark energon has never been fully studied, its properties never unlocked. You don't know what it will do!" Ratchet said, but it was too late.

Optimus place the shard it in his spark chamber. Soon his whole body was consumed with dark energon. Meanwhile in the Decepticon base, Shockwave was finishing his analysis about the purple substance.

"Hmmm, 45% energon, 15% cosmic radiation and 40% unknown. The base elements are completely anything I have ever seen. Must have been extremely concentrated to affect Airachnid so fast. Perhaps minor decontamination will yield more profitable results." Shockwave used tongs the pick up the glass that contained the substance. "Unfortunately complete results are slow without the use of proper diagnostic tools. Thank you, Breakdown."

What he didn't realize that a drop of it fell onto the mechanical arm that Breakdown broke. Then the dark energon corrupted it, it got on its own legs and began to walk away.

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three- Complications**

Airachnid was with Jack outside Jasper preparing to go to the Decepticon base.

"Tighten your grip, Jack." Airachnid said before blast off.

"Woah! What's with you, Airachnid? Jack said.

"Sorry for that, I thought you might enjoy the fly if we weren't getting shot at." Airachnid explained.

"Bring it." Jack said determined.

Not too far away, a red heavy van sat at the top of a rocky hill.

"Ready, set…"

"Miko, I'm supposed to be protecting you, and I don't know it this is secured for you."

"Breakdown, I'm strapped inside five tons of metal muscle. I'm protected." Miko stated.

"Okay, if you said that, here goes nothing." Breakdown said as he began to drive down the hill.

The only thing that came after was Miko and Breakdown screaming in excitement. Meanwhile a bit away there was a brown sports car with Raf inside playing with someone to a video game. He was winning, but at the last moment Stinger pulled up in from of Raf.

"( **Yeah, I won. I'm the best driver on the field and in video games.** )" Stinger exclaimed.

"Hey, no fair Stinger. You have been driving for a lot longer than I have." Raf said.

In the Decepticon base, Shockwave was still analyzing the strange substance.

"Thank Primus for peace and quiet. Houseguest can be such a bother, although they seemed like a new addition to our team."

"Are you saying what I believe, Shockwave?" Knock Out asked coming to the hall. "Do you really believe that some human children can stay with us in this times, even help us against the Autobots?"

"I never said that, Knock Out. However, if Lord Megatron decided to we take care of them he will have his reasons, maybe those kids have something more beyond that skin." He said before hearing something like a falling wrench.

"Did you hear that?" Knock Out asked.

"Maybe is one of the remaining unfinished structures that we are not able to change to cybertronian environment right now." He said before continuing with his job. Then they heard a scurrying along the floor. "Lord Megatron?" Shockwave asked, just then he noticed something on the floor, the same tool that Breakdown broke was alive. "By the Allspark."

It jumped at him but Shockwave was quick to throw it out of the way with his cannon. It went for another try against Knock Out.

"Try to stand still!" Shockwave said while he prepared his shock cannon to fire.

"Well, try to not shoot at me!" Knock Out said as he changed his arms to buzz saws and tried to attack the creature, but it avoided the saws swinging, it hid behind the microscope and cut it in half. "Hey, I just buffed that!" The creature tried to attack again but it was hit by Shockwave shot.

"That thing is not functional anymore." Shockwave said, but suddenly the creature jumped over him and made him overbalance and fall, but fortunately another shot took it down, coming from Megatron's fusion cannon. The creature was getting up when Knock Out squashed it and destroyed it for good.

"And stand down." Knock Out said.

"I heard a commotion, what happened?" Starscream asked entering the hall running.

"It seems that the substance found on Airachnid brought the broken item to life." Shockwave said.

"But that's just a piece of scrap. It can't come alive, can it?" Starscream asked.

"I have a grave suspicion of what substance could have caused this. Dark energon." Megatron elaborated.

Meanwhile inside the Ark, the Autobot leader had finished absorbing the dark substance, and still in his normal state.

"Optimus, are you alright, my liege?" Bumblebee asked.

"I can feel it; it's as if the Blood of Unicron flows through my veins. As if I heard his very thoughts. Now I know what I must do, but I require a testing ground. Fortunately, I know where to do that." Optimus said taking another shard.

"And what can we do to assist you, master?" Ratchet asked.

"Remain in your posts. Continue energon collections and await my commands." Optimus said as he went to the ship's hanger and jumps to the Earth's surface, just before land he turns into a new vehicle, an Earth heavy semi-trailer truck with his same colors.

Inside the ship Grimlock was watching him through a monitor and believed that this was his chance. "Autobots, I fear that when Optimus has reached from the stars, he came down with a touch of madness."

"You believe that dark energon has affected his mind?" Bulkhead asked.

"From my point of view, Optimus Prime has not been at sound judgement since his return. We must increase global surveillance." Grimlock answered.

Blaster responded replaying Optimus's words.

"I am not deaf! But if Megatron lives, I believe it is in our master's best interest that we ensure his enemies' destruction." Grimlock shouted.

"Optimus didn't order us any related with that, we have our orders." Bee replayed.

"Consider this an extra duty, and if we do it fine maybe our master will reward us properly by our service, so begin the proper operations to locate our enemies." Grimlock finished.

"Well, we lose nothing by trying." Cliffjumper added.

"Fine, but don't say we didn't warn you." Ratchet said before returning back to his laboratory.

Inside the Decepticon base, the Decepticons were placing the dead creature inside a container cylinder while Megatron was deducing something.

"If the residue Airachnid found on Steve brought your broken equipment to life, it would stand to reason that the very same substance brought Steve back from the dead."

"That could explain his signal coming back online." Soundwave added.

"Maybe, but dark energon? It's so scarce that it's supposed to be virtually nonexistence. What would it be doing on Earth?" Starscream asked.

"It was transported by Optimus." Megatron added.

"For what logical purpose?" Shockwave asked.

"To conquer this planet, and every other world, even Cybertron, by raising an army of the undead." Megatron finished.

"Well, Prime will need to break quite a few toasters ovens. I mean, besides us and his own soldiers, where on this world would he find that many cybertronian dead?" Starscream questioned.

Before Megatron answered, the 3 other Decepticons returned with the 3 children, all of them very cheerful. After transform, Breakdown feel like something was inside of him, so he opened his chest and took out a guitar.

"Sorry, must have left in the back seat." Miko said taking back her guitar.

"Decepticons, prepare to…!" Megatron began until he saw the humans.

"Rise up?" Airachnid concluded.

"Remain here. Starscream, Shockwave, you'll come with me. Airachnid, we'll be outside of communications range for some time. So I'm putting you in charge." Megatron said.

"Dude, you're biggest. You should be in charge." Miko said to Breakdown.

"He never picks me, and I like it that way." Breakdown responded.

"Megatron, with all due respect, playing body guard is one thing but babysitting is another. Besides, Shockwave hasn't been on the field since the fall of the Nemesis." Airachnid protested.

"My combat skills may be lacking, but my auditory are sharp as ever!" Shockwave shouted.

"It seems that for the moment it will only be reconnaissance." Starscream added.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?"

"Airachnid, much has changed in the last 24 hours, and we all need to adapt. Soundwave, bridge us out." Megatron said while Soundwave opened the ground bridge portal.

The 3 Decepticons went through it and disappeared.

"Ok chief, so; what's on the activities list?" Jack asked to Airachnid.

"Sorry, but I can't deal with this. I'm going on patrol."

"But Megatron told us to stay." Breakdown argued.

"When you're in charge, you can do what you want. Soundwave, with me. Stinger, Knock Out, follow us by land." Airachnid concluded.

"Affirmative." Soundwave nodded.

"It's better than babysitting." Knock Out added.

"( **Oh, alright.** )" Stinger complained.

"Breakdown, you're in charge now." Airachnid said before transform and leave the base with Soundwave and Stinger.

"Don't worry buddy, what can go wrong?" Knock Out said before transforming and go with the others.

"So, uh, what's on the activities list?" Breakdown asked. But suddenly everyone heard a creepy noise coming from a music machine which Miko connected with her guitar.

"How about, band practice?! " Miko said excited.

"But we're not a band." Raf said with his ears covered with his hands.

"Why so antisocial? Come on Raf, you play anything?"

"Hum, keyboard?"

"Laptops and techno sounds, good. Jack?"

"I sometimes mess around on a harmonica." Jack answered.

"Do I look like country music? Just cover yourself in fake blot and jump on screaming. Breakdown, percussion. Look for big industrial sounds. Everything is settled, we are a band. We can improvise the songs, like this one, talks about violence: my fist, your face."

Miko started playing her guitar very loud, making everyone covered their ears. But fortunately, the green lights started to shine.

"Hey wait, stop!" Breakdown shouted.

"Come on, you can't handle the rock power?" Miko protested.

"Is the proximity sensor. Quick, hide!" Breakdown shouted as the children hide behind him.

The elevator reached the level and agent Silas came out, very furious.

"Megatron!" Silas shouted.

"Agent Silas, he's not here. Nobody 's here, except me of course."

"Where did he go? Don't tell me that he's looking for parts in a scrapyard. Now I don't know what language you speak in your planet, but Megatron promised that he would handle the Autobots, and blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the word handle means in English. So tell Megatron…" Silas didn't finished talking because he heard the sound of the guitar and saw it. "Do you Cons like electric music?"

Jack knew that he already saw something was out of place, so it was pointless to remain hidden. "Hey, how you doing?"

"Contact with civilians! The Decepticons have really gone off book this time. Don't tell me that you're running a daycare center."

"We're interns." Jack began.

"Student interns." Raf added.

"Earning extra credit in auto-shop." Jack continued.

"And robotics." Miko finished.

"Okay. Let's move. I'm taking all three of you into federal custody. It's for your own protection." Silas said walking towards the kids.

"We are the only ones who protect them!" Breakdown clarified stomping his foot between him and the children.

"Is that so? Maybe you want to explain that to my superiors, at the Pentagon." Silas said while he took a telephone.

"Don't use that phone, it's…" Breakdown crushed it with his finger. "Out of order."

"This isn't over, big lug! Not by a long shot!" Silas said as he walked back to the elevator.

"Scrap." Breakdown said knowing what could come next.

Meanwhile Megatron, Starscream and Shockwave were in the middle of a deserted canyon.

"Lord Megatron, what exactly do we hope to find here?" Starscream asked.

"The site of the largest cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy."

"On Earth? It cannot be, there were other places more important related with Cybertron."

"Do either of you recall the period late in the war when both sides began hiding their energon spoils off world?" Megatron inquired.

"Of course, it is the reason why energon sites exist on planets such as this one." Shockwave replied.

"And the same reason battles came to be waged on planets such as this one. And I fear Optimus's memory is as long as history." Megatron finished.

Agent Silas took of his helicopter and began his travel to his military base, on his way he decided to contact to his superiors.

"Sir, agent Silas, we have a situation. I'm em-route from the Decepticon base; I'll brief you in person."

Unfortunately, Blaster managed to intercept that transmission.

"Decepticon base? Jajaja, humans, always the weak link. This is a chance that I cannot let go, if I discover the location of our enemies' hideout alone, surely Optimus will reward me as never. Blaster, bring that Silas to me so I can make him speak, by my way! Grimlock shouted.

"Sundor eject, operation: abduction." Blaster said deploying a bird-like Minibot from his chest which went after Silas.

Speaking of Silas, he continued flying until he picked something in his radar.

"Strange, this is not an air route." Suddenly he saw Sundor in front coming very fast towards him. "What in the world?!" But he managed to evade it. "First the roads and now the air becomes dangerous too?"

He flew near a canyon with Sundor dead on his trail trying to take down his helicopter, but he managed to overtake it and hide. Now he was chasing Sundor.

"The hunted becomes the hunter. And here is my present for you, Bot."

Silas aimed his gun at it and opened fire, making Sundor received some hits and trying to get away, until he ran out of bullets. Sundor took advantage of the situation and cut off the helicopter's tail.

"There's not a Decepticon around when you really need one." He tried to stabilize the helicopter, but Sundor unleashed two mechanical legs with claws to grab him. Fortunately he was able to push a SOS button before be pulled off by the Minibot and heading back to the Ark, leaving the helicopter remains being destroyed.

Another alarm was blazing all around the base, Breakdown walked to the computer while the kids had their ears covered.

"My ears!" Raf protested.

"It's an SOS. From Silas." Breakdown saw as he tried to see what was going on, but the alarm went off very fast.

"Did you trace it?" Raf asked.

"Location scan was incomplete, oh well." Breakdown said.

"Oh well, seriously?" Jack said.

"Silas is a jerk."

"Look, whether you like this guy or not, the Autobots may have him." Jack said.

"And he knows of your location… and our location." Raf whimpered afraid.

"Didn't you notice how quickly he backs down from a Con? The Bots will totally make him squeal!" Miko finished.

"But we lost the transmission, Silas could be anywhere." Breakdown reminded.

"Maybe I can narrow it down." Raf said as he opened his laptop. "About five years ago the government started micro-chipping their agents, you know, like owners do with pets." Everyone was impressed as Raf was typing. "What? I saw it on TV. Anyway, if I can hack into the federal mainframe I could pinpoint agent Silas's location."

"You know how to hack? But you look like… two years old." Miko said impressed.

"Twelve… and a quarter." Raf smiled.

Meanwhile Silas was in the worst place of all: in the interrogation room of the Autobot warship.

"One Decepticon ally, as you request general." Cliffjumper said as he dropped Silas to the floor.

"So you must be agent Silas. I'm general Grimlock, the one in charge of this spaceship."

"You can consider yourself lucky; you are the first human who walks on this ship." Cliffjumper added.

Silas immediately get up and confronted Grimlock. "You treat your entire guess this way?"

"All allies of the Decepticons." Grimlock responded.

"Decepticons? Oh, you're talking about the new generation of car washes." Silas said, pretending don't know what that meaned.

"Ugh, let me clear something to you, human. I don't have much patience, especially with human humor, so this is how is going to be: answer my questions right and without false clues, or you're going to go very wrong. Make our guest comfortable." Grimlock ordered to an Autobot trooper.

Meanwhile in the base…

"Latitude 39.5, longitude 116.9." Raf said.

Breakdown proceeded to activate the ground bridge. "Okay, wait here."

"Oah, don't break up the band." Miko protested.

"Just in case anyone comes back, Jack, you're in charge." Breakdown said before go through the vortex.

"Guess we three have the run of the place." Jack said, but suddenly he and Raf saw that Miko was not with them. "Miko? Miko?!"

The ground bridge transported Breakdown to a big canyon.

"Silas? Oh scrap." Breakdown said as he hid behind some rocks because of something that was very near. "The whole Autobot shebang, this is not going to be easy."

The Ark was landed in the middle of the canyon with a lot of Autobot troopers guarding the surroundings.

"Alright, what's the plan?"

"Miko!" Breakdown said shocked. He gave her a signal to stay put.

But it was too late; an Autobot tank discovered her and aimed his weapon at her. "Halt in the name of Optimus Prime, you worthless insect!"

"Oh, unwise." Miko said.

"Miko, get down!" Breakdown shouted.

She managed to evade the shot, and before the Autobot could fire again Breakdown tackled him. The two robots began fighting, Breakdown using his fist and the Autobot trying to immobilize him and shot him with his cannon of the back. Finally Breakdown managed to control his enemy and stayed away from the cannon.

"Hold on still!" Miko said trying to harm the Autobot with a rock, but it did nothing to his armor.

Breakdown took Miko away as he and the Autobot were engaged in an arm lock. "Miko, look away!"

"But…"

"Turn you head away, now!" Breakdown ripped out the tank's cannon and nail it inside the Autobot's spark chamber.

"Woau." That was Miko's answer for what she saw.

"This is too complicated for only one Con, even for a Stunticon. Better call for backup." Breakdown deduced as he took Miko with him behind a rock. "Airachnid, Stinger, Knock Out, Soundwave, do you read?"

"Load and clear, buddy." Knock Out responded with Stinger nest to him and Airachnid and Soundwave flying above them.

"I have a situation here."

"Breakdown, they're kids. Humans. Just do what needs to be done."Airachnid said before Breakdown explained them what happened. ""You are where?! And she is with you?! She said angrily.

"( **Hey guys, what's going on?** )" Stinger asked.

"It seems that girl is more difficult to control than we thought." Knock Out answered.

"Soundwave, send your buddy to Breakdown's location to see it is true what he said!" Airachnid ordered.

"Laserbeak eject, operation: status confirmation." Soundwave released a Minicon very similar to Sundor which flied to the direction where Breakdown and Miko were.

Inside the base Raf and Jack were very worried about what happened.

"What should we do? Breakdown might have not even realized that she followed him." Raf said worried.

"Miko hasn't seen the Bots in action like we have. She has no idea what she's in for." Jack said.

"Those are the coordinates; the destination is still locked in." Raf noticed.

"Uh, you're in charge." Jack said.

"In charge of who?! I'm coming with you." Raf said activating the ground bridge.

"What?!" Jack shouted.

"The more we are, the more we can motivate her."Raf explained.

"You're right, let's go."

Jack and Rak walked to the ground bridge portal to cross the vortex.

"Knock Out to base, come in. Jack? Raf? Listen, we need you to bridge us back. Hello?"

"Any answer?" Airachnid asked.

"Nothing, it seems that there is no one at base."

At that moment, Laserbeak returned to Soundwave.

"Reconnaissance completed. Breakdown is in the current location, next to strong enemy presence. The female human child is with him."

"I have a bad feeling about this. Boys, let's hurry to get there." Airachnid said as all of them started to race to assist Breakdown and the kids.

Inside the interrogation room of the Ark, Silas was chained up around the arms and hanging from the ceiling, accompanied by Grimlock and a couple of Autobot troopers.

"Listen to me, agent Silas. I have only one simple request that will save your family the pain of grieving. Tell me the location of the Decepticon base." Grimlock said as he put one of his fingers at his throat.

"No problem, but I need to ask you about something first." Silas said.

"What exactly?"

"I got an issue with the customer service here. Can I speak to the manager?"

"RRRRGGGG, I told you that I don't have patience with your games, and no one has more authority than me! Electrify the chains!" Grimlock groaned.

The chains were covered with electricity, but it seems that they affect Silas only a little.

"Is that the best that you got?" Silas said challenging.

"Oh, so you are a very resistant human, the most hard to bow down, my favorites. Bring the energon prod." Grimlock answered.

Breakdown and Miko were still outside the Ark waiting for help.

"What is taken them so long?" Breakdown said.

"Dude, the Bots could be putting the claims on Silas right now. Let's just storm the ship." Miko mentioned.

Suddenly they saw a ground bridge portal. "Ah, they here, finally." Breakdown said, but they were shocked to see that Raf and Jack were the only one coming.

"Why don't those guys hang with their own Cons? This is our one-on-one time." Miko said angrily.

"Woau, are you bones vibrating?" Raf expressed about ground bridge travel.

The two kids were shocked to see in front of them the giant Autobot spaceship.

"You there, don't move!" The Autobot trooper leader said.

The kids' excitement became fear when they noticed the Autobot soldiers on the top of the ship aiming to them, some of them even were controlling some outside turrets of the ship.

"Scrap." Miko and Breakdown said.

Silas was still inside the interrogation room with Grimlock.

"I will ask nicely one last time. Where is the…Decepticon…base?" Grimlock said coldly.

"Sure thing, buddy. Right after you washes your teeth." Silas answered.

"I can secure you that my teeth are more things than clean." Grimlock said revealing a small device in his hand which generated blue electricity. He gave a small tap on his stomach which made him hurt. "So Ratchet was right, energon and human nervous systems don't mix." Grimlock said with an evil smile.

Meanwhile in the desert canyon, the Decepticon trio discovered a giant mass of dead cybertronians.

"For the first time in my life, Lord Megatron. I had hoped that you were wrong." Starscream said.

Suddenly they noticed a driving sound coming from the top of the cliff; right there they saw a heavy truck which turns in the nemesis of Megatron.

"Well, well. Megatron, been well? I see you brought your blind loyal second in command and your rusty scientist. I believed that with his limited vision and only one useful hand he would be rusting in a scrapyard by now." The Autobot warlord said.

"You must know that cybertronian tanks don't break up very easily." Shockwave said pointing his cannon at Optimus.

"Why don't you invite him down here for a check-up?" Starscream said pointing his missiles at him too.

"I know why you're here, Optimus."

"Hardly a surprise, Megatron. After all, you and I have been playing this little game of the protector and the conqueror for a very long time. But today, you shall meet your end!" Optimus declared before he threw his purple shard at the center of the battle field.

Soon the area was being consumed by it.

"Raise my unstoppable legion!" Optimus exclaimed as his eyes turned purple.

Soon all the dead reawakened, coming through the Earth.

"By the Allspark…" Starscream said terrified from the vision, the same as Shockwave while Megatron looked in horror at Optimus.

"Behold the power of dark energon!" Optimus shouted as his Terrobot army marched towards Starscream, Shockwave and Megatron.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four- Skirmishes**

The undead army rose before Megatron, Shockwave and Starscream and they began approaching them.

"He has revived them, this defies all logic." Shockwave said alarmed.

"Optimus has desecrated the resting place of our fallen ancestors, and his own." Starscream said horrified.

"Not even the dead are free from his warmongering." Megatron said.

Optimus was pleased with the results." At last, symbiosis. I can feel it. I possess complete control over my army. Terrorbots, destroy them!"

The dead began the attack. Megatron shot them with his fusion cannon, but some of them were still able to stand up even after received some hits.

"Master, if our combatants are already deceased, how could we possibly defeat them?" Starscream mentioned as the rest of the zombies began swarming around them.

"Starscream, Shockwave, retreat. Bridge yourselves back to base."

"No way, Lord Megatron. I shall stand with you." Starscream responded.

"We are together in this. Besides, you may require assistance when this is over." Shockwave said charging his shock cannon and firing to the nearest zombie.

Starscream launched his missiles to other two and used his claws to cut off another zombie's arm and head. Then he noticed that the sliced parts were really dead. "Guys, cut them for pieces, it's the only way to kill them for sure!"

"Good observation, old friend." Megatron said as he replaced his fusion cannon for his gladiator sword. He and Starscream fought in close combat while Shockwave continued covering them shooting the undead with his weapon.

"I have mastered dark energon. When you fall, Megatron, you too shall join my army." Optimus warned from the distance.

"We'll see." Megatron answered before getting back to combat.

Meanwhile in the canyon where the Ark was landed, the Autobot troopers began to open fire at Jack and Raf, even with the turrets. At the moment, Breakdown came to them.

"Get in, now!" He ordered.

With them aboard, Breakdown managed to evade all shots and get away enough to stay safe.

"Thanks Breakdown." Jack said.

"Yeah, thanks." Raf copied.

"What are you doing here?!" Breakdown asked.

"We were worried about Miko. Have you seen her?" Jack asked worried.

"What does she look like?" Miko responded from the back seat.

Breakdown hidden behind a giant rock very far of the Autobots shots. "Everyone out, and this time please wait here."

After dropping the kids, Breakdown charged to the Autobot ship, evading all the shots and getting under the ship, where the troopers couldn't get him. Down there, he proceeded to climb up the canyon's wall to get to the ship. He managed to grab an Autobot trooper and threw him to the overboard. Finally on the top, Breakdown faced the Autobots with his hammer, but for the last Autobots, who were shooting at the turrets from the distance, he grabbed the ship's communication antenna and threw it to them. After defeating them all, Breakdown looked down to see the kids, but then he notices something wrong.

"Where is Miko?!" Breakdown shouted, but then he heard a loud banging noise from his compartment. He opened it and Miko emerged, breathless. "Miko?"

"I threw up on your floor mats, sorry." Miko said covering his mouth as Breakdown placed her on the floor. "Remind me never to do that again."

A survivor Autobot trooper tackled Breakdown, and he had trouble to take him off, that was because that Autobot turned into a motorcycle and managed to evade all his attacks.

"Can anyone tell me why there is so much noise here with the turrets?" Someone said coming from a trapdoor, but it was Cliffjumper. "Uh, why there is another human in our ship?" He said looking at Miko before turning to Breakdown. "A Decepticon here?! I need back up on the ship's top, now!" Cliffjumper asked for backup through his com-link. Breakdown saw him and grabbed the Autobot motorcycle and threw it to him. "Stand right there, Con." Cliffjumper said aiming at him with his blasters as his reinforcement arrived, so Breakdown decided to grab Miko and went inside the ship avoiding the shots. "Send the alarm; tell everyone we have intruders inside our ship."

"Think they forgot about us?" Raf asked Jack, but two big shadows came behind them and they saw two Autobot troopers approaching them.

"You better come with us if you know what is better for you." An Autobot tank said as another, which turns into a F1 grabbed them.

Inside the Ark, Breakdown with Miko, who was hitching a ride on his hand, were running through the ship's hallways, searching for agent Silas. At an intersection of halls emerged the Autobot he did not want to meet at that time.

"Well well, it's been a while, no Breakdown?"

"Bulkhead, so you decided to accompany the worst Prime that ever existed in his endless quest for destruction." Breakdown said.

"Do not misunderstand me, Breakdown. I'm doing this because of what I am, a Wrecker. Destruction is my specialty."

"You know this guy?" Miko asked.

"We have a history."

"So you have a human pet. Do not you care if I play with her a little?" Bulkhead said looking at Miko sinisterly.

"To reach her you'll have to step over my dead body." Breakdown warned changing his hand into a hammer.

"Like the old times." Bulkhead responded changing his hand into a wrenching ball.

Breakdown quickly threw Miko, sliding below Bulkhead. He tried to smash her, but Breakdown confronted him and their fight began.

"I'm going to throw up again." Miko said before Breakdown scooped her again.

"Leaving so soon, you never get away from a fight, especially with me." Bulkhead said grapping Breakdown from his back.

"Sorry Bulkhead, but I have more important business to achieve. We'll leave it for another time." Breakdown finished hitting Bulkhead in his head, leaving him unconscious. After that, they continued the search.

Meanwhile the Autobot troopers who captured the kids were carrying them through the ship.

"Take them to the interrogation room. General Grimlock is keeping the other human there." The Autobot tank said to the F1, who was the one carrying the children.

Fortunately for them, two cars at maximum speed charged to the two troopers, releasing the humans. Airachnid caught them in time while Soundwave finished the troopers with his electrified tentacles.

"Stinger!" Raf said happy.

"( **How glad I am that you're okay.** )" Stinger exclaimed.

"Appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the Autobot warship was not on the activities list." Airachnid said.

"Tell me about it." Jack added.

"Breakdown and Miko are inside too, we need to find them!" Raf said.

"Don't worry kid, is Breakdown who you're talking about. They'll be fine." Knock Out said.

They pressed on up to a corner. When they heard noises coming from the other side, Knock Out pulled out his blasters. But he saw that it was Breakdown with Miko.

"Friendly!" Knock Out said.

"Hello." Breakdown responded.

"Brought the humans, huh?" Airachnid said.

"Next time you try getting them to stay behind!" Breakdown shouted.

"Well fortunately the Autobots don't know we're here." Knock Out said, but in that moment the alarm sounded.

"Said something?" Airachnid added.

"It's seems that Cliffjumper or Bulkhead has ratted us." Breakdown finished.

"Need to find Silas and get the kids out of here before the Autobots locate our positions." Soundwave said.

"He's in the interrogation room." Jack and Raf said in union.

"Nodded, but first we need a safe place for you during the rescue." Soundwave said.

Silas was still chained up and asleep, but he woke up when Grimlock appeared.

"My dear agent Silas, do you realize that the Decepticons have abandoned you? I am the only one you can rely upon now. So tell me what I want to know or…" Grimlock said with an evil chuckle as he pulled out the torturing device.

"Please, no more. They're in secret government base." Silas said afraid.

"Go on." Grimlock said, but before he said more they heard noises of lasers shots coming from outside the room. "Continue."

"Maybe was in Chernobil, or perhaps was inside the Bermuda Triangle." He mumbled trying to buy some time.

"GRRRRRR!" Grimlock roared and placed the device on his stomach. Finally he went light out again.

"Someone find out what is going on out there!" Grimlock shouted making the two guards left the room to see outside. "And as for you, you better tell me what I want or your next mistake will be the last." Grimlock warned as he showed his sword to Silas.

Several Autobot troopers trapped the Decepticons at a hallway intersection. The human kids dodged relentlessly to not get crushed. Finally the Decepticons managed to kill the last enemy. Meanwhile in the deserted canyon, Megatron and his fellows Decepticons were still battling the cybertronian undead.

"Do you not feel suddenly like more tired?" Starscream noticed.

"It must be this prolonged exposure to dark energon what is draining our strength." Shockwave deduced.

"We cannot falter now." Megatron inspired as he charged against the zombies, but they managed to gain up on him and dog piled him.

"Megatron!" Starscream came to help him, but he was grabbed by a couple of Terrorbots who anchored him to the floor.

"Strascream, no!" Shockwave said, but the distraction allowed more zombies to pile him, and one twisted his cannon arm, giving him a lot of pain.

Optimus smiled believing that he had his victory, but suddenly the pile of Terrorbots which had trapped Megatron was destroyed by the Decepticon leader, roaring free.

"After all these years Megatron, still at the top of your game." Optimus said.

Next, he came to aid Starscream and they two managed to rescue Shockwave.

"Ready for round two, professor?" Starscream said giving Shockwave a hand.

"What, giving up already?" Shockwave said.

"Better stay together to survive for sure." Megatron said helping Starscream with Shockwave.

"Finish them!" Optimus ordered to the zombies.

The three Decepticons continued eradicating the undead. In that moment there were four Autobot troopers on the Ark's bridge running through protocol when a knock was made from the door. One of them went to answer, but after the door opened he was grabbed by a tentacle. Airachnid entered the bridge and shot the nearest Bot. The others were neutralized by Knock Out, Breakdown and Stinger.

"Clear, you can get inside now." Knock Out said to the human children.

"Wait in here." Soundwave said.

"( **Why?** )" Stinger asked.

"They could slow us down and they're easy targets." Soundwave explained.

"He's right; they'll be all right in here. As long as they stay put." Airachnid said looking at Miko.

All the Cons left the door closed, leaving the kids alone in the bridge.

"That was intense." Miko said.

"What?" Raf asked amazed.

"It's your fault that we are struck in this intensity. What were you thinking, Miko?" Jack said angered.

"Did I ask you to follow me?" Miko protested.

"You want us to be a band. Doesn't that usually meant play together?" Jack remembered.

"Well, maybe I decided to go solo." Miko defended.

"Well, maybe I have some regards for your safety."

"Oh I'm sorry, is your name Megatron? You could leave my protection to Breakdown, thank you so much."

"Quiet! Stop it, both of you!" Raf shouted before run to a ledge of a step case sad.

"Hey Raf, it's okay." Jack said, trying to comfort him.

"Yeah, we're going to be fine." Miko added.

"The Cons will come back for us." Jack said.

"And they're going to take us home." Miko said.

"How do you know?" Raf asked.

Suddenly, Jack noticed something. "Hey Raf, what do make of that?"

Raf crawled down the rest of the steps and walked near to get a closer look of strange pictures showed on the monitor. "It's important, real important."

At the same moment, inside the interrogation room the noises of blaster fire seemed to be getting closer, which made Grimlock nervous.

"Wake up, you pathetic lump of flesh!" He said to agent Silas.

"Daddy, it's time to go to school?" Silas said before went back to sleep, as result of all the torture he suffered.

"GRRRR, I had enough!" Grimlock roared when he heard knocks from the door, it opened and Cliffjumper was there. "Cliffjumper, what's all the fuss?!"

"You seem to have gotten in a big mess." Cliffjumper said dizzy before fainting, showing that Knock Out was the one who took him down with his electric staff. Breakdown gun down the guard by surprise with a missile launched from a turret on his shoulder and Stinger and Soundwave aimed at the big Autobot.

"Not so fast." Grimlock said pointing his sword at Silas. A metallic sound came from the top of his head. He looked up to see Airachnid with her hands aiming at him.

"I wouldn't." She said.

"But you are not me." Grimlock answered with an evil smile.

Meanwhile the kids were still looking at the images on the screen.

"We've got to get this to Megatron." Raf said.

"How do you know it's not just a recipe for space burgers?" Miko asked.

"I know math when I see it. And that is one serious equation." Raf explained.

"Can you download it?" Jack asked.

"I've got a flash drive." Raf placed his backpack down and pullet out the item. "But I don't see where I could plug it in. This technology is way too advance and alien."

But anyone noticed that one Autobot had entered into the bridge, but not a normal Autobot, it was a heavy trooper: a Leaper ( **from Fall of Cybertron** ). He found the corpse of his fellows Autobots; so the kids ran for cover, but Raf rushed back for his bag. The Bot saw him and changed his hands into his primary weapons: giant claws. At the same time, the standoff between the Decepticons and Grimlock was still going on.

"Now, agent Silas and I will take our leave." Grimlock said.

"The bogeyman it's still in the closet." Silas said still dizzy by the electric device.

That distracted Grimlock and Soundwave took a shot.

"Surrender Grimlock, you're cornered." Soundwave warned.

"Nobody stops me, especially now that I have evolved." Grimlock said as he changed to his alternative form, but this form was different from the others Autobots used to have: he changed into a sinister metallic version of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"( **What in the world?!** )" Stinger screamed.

"By the Allspark." Airachnid answered while she was terrified of what she saw.

Grimlock roared in his dinosaur form and managed to get through the Decepticons and leave, threatening to catch them with his jaws.

"So the rumors that Grimlock had been subjected to experiments to improve were true." Knock Out deduced.

"No wonder he has decided to adopt a new name for his new horrible alternative way of fight, like a monster." Breakdown said.

"Dinobot." Soundwave finished.

The Autobot Leaper jumped and was about to hit Raf with his claws, but Jack managed to grab him before the Bot hit the ground.

"Miko, take a picture!" Jack shouted.

"Great idea." She said. The Autobot turned to them after take out his claws from the ground. "Hey, you!" Miko said as she took a picture of him, which left him confused.

"Not of that! Of that!" Jack said pointing to the screen.

"Oh." She took the correct picture.

"Now let's get out of here. Go, go, go!" Jack shouted as the kids ran from the Leaper, getting outside of the bridge.

"That's it, run little bugs. That means more fun for me." The Leaper said sinisterly.

The Autobot jumped upon them and blocked their escape route, threatening with his claws. But in the last moment, the Leaper noticed two electric signals in his back: it was Soundwave, who used his tentacles on the engines of his back.

"What are you doing back there, Con? No, not that, it's overloading my energy source!"

"Affirmative." Soundwave answered.

At the end, the overload caused the Leaper exploded. Finally, the Decepticons came back.

"I told you to stay put!" Airachnid scold them.

"Everyone aboard." Knock Out said.

Jack went with Knock Out and Miko with Raf inside Stinger.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Silas said, still dizzy on the back seat.

"You found Silas! Rock on!" Miko yelled.

Finally, the Decepticons were out of the Autobot warship.

"Soundwave, please send us home." Airachnid said relieved.

"Right now." Soundwave said opening a ground bridge back to their base.

In the other canyon, Megatron, Starscream and Shockwave killed all the zombies.

"Bravo Megatron, but this is just a prelude. You may wish to save your strength for the main event." Optimus said with his eyes in purple.

Megatron placed his sword back and climbed the cliff face. "You will not prevail, Optimus. Not while energon still flows through my veins." He said reaching to the Autobot leader.

"Fitting. For it is dark energon which flows through mine." Megatron tried to attack him, but Optimus jumped over him and transformed before landing inside the canyon and drove away. Megatron tried to shot him, but he failed, so he helped Starscream to get up Shockwave.

"If this wasn't Optimus's master plan, what is?" Starscream said looking at all the cybertronian corpses.

The 3 Decepticons were bridged back to base safely.

"That's it, stay still. Okay, this will be alright at the morning. You had luck that the cannon weren't broken." Knock Out said finishing repairing Shockwave's arm. "Now let's get a look to agent Silas's condition."

"What happened to you guys anyway?" Miko asked looking at Shockwave's busted arm.

"We engaged an army of undead cybertronian warriors." Shockwave answered.

"Zombies? You fought zombies and I miss it?!" Miko shouted.

"Breakdown, you have exercised extremely poor judgement on allowing the humans to accompany you." Starscream said.

"It won't happen again, commander. I promise." Breakdown apologized.

"But it wasn't Breakdown's fault."

"Miko, please." Breakdown exclaimed.

"Are you going to answer for his mistakes?" Starscream asked interested.

"In fact, there are her mistakes." Jack said coldly.

"But that doesn't matter now. In fact, check this out. Recon!" Miko said proudly showing her phone.

"Mm. Shockwave, Soundwave, have a look, this could be an importance to Optimus." Megatron said after see Miko's phone.

"Woah, Optimus has returned? That's definitely bad news." Jack expressed.

"I…don't find what logic comes from a Leaper." Shockwave said seeing the phone.

"Oops. That's the Bot who tried to blow Raf away. At least that's what he looked like before Soundwave made him blow into pieces." Miko explained.

"Is that true?" Starscream asked.

"Affirmative." Soundwave nodded.

"Miko, Raf was almost killed. This isn't a game. When are you going to get that through your fist skull?!" Jack said furious.

"Hum, we were all almost killed, Jack. You, me, Raf, even them." Miko responded.

"Well if this just an average day with the Decepticons, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore." Jack concluded.

"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk, but the safety of all humankind. But we will respect you decision if you wish to leave." Megatron said.

They heard the ground bridge being activated.

"No point in long goodbyes. Here's the door." Starscream said.

"Come on, Raf." Jack said.

But Raf looked to Stinger, who looked down sadly. "I will be okay, Jack. See you at school."

"Sure thing." Jack said before walk to the ground bridge, but when he was near to the vortex, Airachnid stopped him in his tracks.

"So then?" She said.

"I know. You don't exist." Jack responded as he went through the vortex.

"What? No, that it's not what I meant." Airachnid said, but it was too late: Jack went home.

"Something wrong, Airachnid?" Knock Out asked.

"Yes, that I have not told him what I really wanted to say." Airachnid said sadly.

Meanwhile inside the Ark, there was an agro between two Autobots.

"Optimus, please. Let me explain." Grimlock said before receiving another punch in his face from the evil Prime.

"I told you to await my commands!" Optimus whacked Grimlock on the side, sending him flying away and landing on his back, observed by all the other Autobots. "Instead you decided to act by yourself with pride, leaving to the damage it has suffered my ship. And the delay of my plans!"

"I only wanted to do something useful, master. I only wanted to destroy Megatron for you." Grimlock said before Optimus put his sword on his neck.

"No one will destroy Megatron except me! Do you understand, mindless Dinobot? DO YOU?!"

"My liege, I know that right now you want to punish Grimlock more than anything, but to save annoyances, Blaster and I have discovered how to set your plans back on course." Bumblebee said, caching his attention and making him free Grimlock.

"Explain now, Bumblebee." Optimus said.

Jack was inside the garage of his house finishing a bicycle to ride. Suddenly, a few lights revealed Breakdown, and Miko came outside.

"Now I understand why you have to reach home." Miko said.

"Do you have something more exciting to do, Miko?" Jack asked as he continuing working.

"So, this is where you hang, huh? Back home in Tokyo I had loving parents and two cute cats. I went to the best schools, to piano lessons since I was three…" Miko narrated.

"How nice for you." Jack expressed.

"No, too boring, it wasn't me. What do you think I jump into the chance of transfer here?"

"Huh, to Jasper, Nevada. The entertainment capital of the world?" Jack said.

"Yeah well, the exaggerated promotion. Piano lessons were starting to look pretty good in fact. But then, the last couple of days happened."

"Do you have a point?" Jack asked.

"You beat. I saw what you did today, when you saved Raf, when you came to save me."

"I've been raised to be responsible. To my school work, to my mom, my job."

"Dude, hear me out. You are not fried cook, you are a rock star. Stop trying to pretend you're normal, Jack. You never filled in, you born to be so much more."

"Thanks Miko, but I think normal suits me fine." Jack concluded.

Not able to continue the discussion, Miko returned with Breakdown and they went back home, leaving Jack with his thoughts. Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base, Soundwave and Shockwave had finished analyzing the equations that Miko took a picture.

"It can't be. Lord Megatron, these plans are engineering specs for a space time vortex generator." Shockwave explained.

"Optimus is preparing a space bridge, if he hasn't already." Megatron deduced.

"The sooner he leaves the better." Breakdown said.

"Breakdown, a space bridge runs in two directions." Knock Out corrected.

"Optimus might not be using it to leave Earth, but to bring through his conquering army." Megatron finished.

"The main event that Optimus referred to. But the only place Prime can possibly recruit that many fallen warriors…" Starscream said.

"Precisely. Cybertron." Megatron finished.

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five- Decisive Hour**

There was a vision that Megatron was having about a meteor of dark energon going through a space bridge portal and crash landing on Cybertron. The dark energon was extended throughout the whole planet, reanimating all the dead cybertronians. After going through the vortex, they caused total destruction around the globe.

"We cannot allow Optimus to send dark energon through his space bridge. If we failed, the dead of Cybertron will raise. Swarm through the vortex, and invade Earth. Ending humankind to Optimus's twisted rule." Megatron proclaimed.

At the next morning, Jack was going to work like all days, but this time he was riding on a bicycle, the one he built last night. He saw his job place and sighed.

"Nice bike. I can't believe you've been able to build it yourself and still make it work. If Shockwave saw this, he will be very impressed." Airachnid said, landed behind him.

"Airachnid, please. Miko already tried. Tell Megatron that I respect his principles, but if you're in war with the Autobots. There is nothing I can do to help." Jack said.

"Megatron didn't send me, and no one is asking for your help. I came only to talk with you. I was not able to tell you what I had to say yesterday."

"So, if we both agree that I am not warrior material… Why did come here?" Jack asked.

"Jack, before we meet I lost someone I care about, my closest partner. After that I have decided to not try to get close to anyone. But the time that I passed with you did something to me. Maybe it's the grief talking, or maybe you're growing on me. The thing is that I'm just not ready to say goodbye to you. Steve was gone when he really needed me; I don't want you to share his same destiny." Airachnid explained, making Jack checked over his thoughts.

Meanwhile in the Decepticon base, everyone was present in the main hall for the actual situation.

"Megatron, I have pinpointed the location of Optimus's space bridge. High in Earth's orbit." Soundwave said.

"Out of our reach." Starscream added.

"Okay, so not all you can fly. But can't you just ground bridge there?" Miko suggested.

"It's not that easy, Miko. The ground bridge has limited range. Stretching as far as Earth's orbit, the vortex could snap and scatter us to the stars." Shockwave explained.

"Are you sure of that?" Raf asked.

"Not really, I have not had time to see if that's true. Maybe the real range of our ground bridge could be more extended that we though." Shockwave deduced.

"Since Optimus is likely already to make his move and that we can't get there in time by our own way to air travel, I'm afraid we must make that risk. Reaching the space bridge first is our only means of stopping him." Megatron said.

Suddenly Airachnid showed up and Jack came out. "Hey, guess who is back." Jack said.

"Welcome back Jack." Megatron said with a smile. "Decepticons, prepare for departure."

"Where to?" Airachnid asked.

"The final frontier." Miko said.

"Space? I though they didn't have a way to get there." Jack said.

"They don't, really." Raf said while Stinger put him in the ground.

"Well, seen you in a while." Jack said to Airachnid, she responded by winking an eye.

"Be careful, Sting." Raf said.

"( **I'm always careful, don't worry.** )" Stinger answered.

"I'm so jealous." Miko said.

"Don't even think about following me this time." Breakdown said to her.

"Coordinates locked. The ground bridge still stable." Soundwave said observing the portal.

"Exactly what I suspect. Lord Megatron, I wish you good luck on this mission, but if all of you leave me stranded on this planet crawled by humans I'll never forgive you."

"Jaja, you can live with that, Shockwave." Starscream said with a grin.

"Until we meet again, old friend. Decepticons, rise up!" Megatron said before he and the other Decepticons transformed and went inside the vortex. The trip was very long. "Maximum overdrive!"

The ground bridge portal opened in the middle of the space around Earth. The Decepticons went outside close to landing on the space bridge.

"Decepticons, transform and gravitate." Megatron said as the entire team transformed.

The Decepticons activated their magnetic feet to stay on the bridge and not drift into space. Knock Out had a little time keeping his balance.

"What's wrong with you, Knock Out? Do you have vertigo?" Breakdown said laughing.

"No, but this views are more deceiving. Don't look down, or up, or left." Knock Out said to himself.

A shadow appeared above them, it was the Ark which was approaching the space bridge. It stopped when it was a few distance.

"So Optimus is packing enough dark energon to raise Cybertron's dead?" Knock Out asked.

"Correct, and since we don't have the means of disabling the space bridge, nothing gets in or out." Megatron said as he and the other Decepticons wield out their weapons.

Inside the Ark Optimus Prime watched the Decepticons from a monitor, which made him chuckle a little.

"Megatron, never disappoints. Unlike you, Grimlock."

"Grrr." He responded.

"No need for concern, master. Blaster is locking onto Cybertron's coordinates right now." Bumblebee responded.

The Decepticons continued on the space bridge, waiting for the Autobots's next move.

"Well, what are they waiting for?" Airachnid asked.

"It looks like they have suffered some kind of delay, as if they had been sabotage." Starscream said.

Soundwave used his scanners to inspect in some part of the Ark, where it was something broken. "Starscream's right. The Autobots have sustained excessive damage to their interstellar navigation systems."

"That's my handy work." Breakdown remembered.

"Great job, Breakdown." Megatron said.

"Like always, your collateral damage is very helpful." Knock Out complemented.

Everyone at base was able to hear the conversations between the team through the com-links.

"Without the dish, Optimus will not be able to aim the space bridge at Cybertron." Starscream said.

"Don't the Autobots know where their planet is?" Raf asked.

"Naturally. But Cybertron is many light-years away. To reach their target their aim must be astronomically precise." Shockwave said.

"If Optimus went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system. A remote." Megatron deduced.

"Hmph. Well from what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio telescope dish on this planet, powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron." Starscream said.

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes? Like the giant size arrays in Texas." Raf suggested.

"Ugh, please. It's impossible that the Autobots are able to reach that conclusion so absurd." Starscream yelled.

"No, it is very logical. The combined concentration of all those dishes with the Autobot navigation systems can be powerful enough to reach even Cybertron." Shockwave concluded.

"Good thinking Rafael. Shockwave, have agent Silas alert the array staff to the security hazard." Megatron said through the com-link.

"You, soldier! You're out uniform! Put on some pants." Silas said before going out again, which made the kids laugh a little.

"That maybe a challenge." Shockwave said.

"I can't get pass the arrays firewalls. They're too thick." Raf said.

"You actually think you could keep the Autobots out?" Shockwave asked impressed.

"Maybe, if I could get in."

"Raf, what if we get you all the way in? Like inside the building in?" Jack suggested.

"I can walk into their own network on the other side of the firewalls." Raf finished.

"The risk is too great. The Autobots will be there. Perhaps even on site." Megatron warned.

"Megatron, with all due respect, you said it yourself. This is bigger than the safety of three humans." Jack remembered.

"Yeah, if we let the Bots win; we're fragged, along with everyone else on our planet." Miko supported.

"Raf?" Megatron asked.

"I want to give it a shot." Raf answered.

Meanwhile, inside the Ark…

"You know, Optimus? Something tells me that the Decepticons are up to something." Grimlock suggested.

"Really, Grimlock?" Optimus said looking at him. "And what you suggest we do?"

Grimlock responded by slamming his fist, which he understood.

"Crush them!" Optimus ordered through the com-link.

Immediately, from the ship's hangar emerged a squadron of flying Autobot troopers, more called an Aerobots, flying right at the Decepticons.

"Here comes the welcoming committee." Breakdown said.

"Breakdown, let's send them our special gift." Starscream said.

The Seeker and the Stunticon sent a few missiles to the Aerobots, destroying a couple of them. At the same time, the human kids emerged from the ground bridge vortex, dizzy.

"That'll take some get used to." Jack said before going to the building.

The small fleet of Aerobots landed on the space bridge and began brawling with the Decepticons. Megatron managed to shoot some of them while they're still airborne. But when the entire squadron landed, the skirmish was about full hand to hand combat. Meanwhile, the kids were inside the array building.

"The security sure is lacks on this place." Miko said after looking down the hallways.

"I'm in. And so are the Autobots." Raf said working on the computer.

"What?" Jack said.

"How could you tell?" Miko asked.

"The schematics. With the same math we saw in their ship. But this time, I can download it." Raf said as he plugged his flash drive in the slot.

"It's got it be the space bridge." Miko deduced.

"The Autobots are syncing it to the dishes. But I could sync to them." Raf said.

"Will they know?" Jack asked.

"Even if the Autobots see that I'm in the system, they'll have no idea that I'm in the house." Raf said confident.

But they didn't have any idea that right down the hall was Blaster. He had already taken care of the security and he was targeting the arrays at Cybertron's coordinates. The effects were noticed on the space bridge.

"What just happened?" Knock Out asked.

"The Autobots are locking on to Cybertron." Soundwave deduced.

The Autobots noticed that too inside the Ark.

"The space bridge has moved." Ratchet said.

"Optimus, the space bridge is ready for activation." Bumblebee informed.

"Finally."

Fortunately, the kids saw that too.

"They're locked onto Cybertron, but not for long." Raf said as he began to reverse the programming.

That caused that the space bridge moved again.

"( **He made it!** )" Stinger cheered.

"Indeed, Stinger. This can only be Rafael's doing." Megatron added.

The change was noticed inside the ship too.

"What? The space bridge has changed its target." Ratchet noticed.

"It seems that something is not right." Grimlock said proudly.

"Bumblebee, what's happening?" Optimus asked furious.

"I don't know. Let me see what happened. Blaster, what is happening? You're supposed to target those arrays on Cybertron." Bumblebee said.

After receiving Bee's transmission, he saw the security cameras on his monitor, and found the problem: the humans hacking in the network. He sent one of his tentacles to stop them.

"The dishes are heading back to Cybertron. I'll just do it that again." Raf said.

"What happens when the Bots realized that we're the ones who are sabotaging them?" Jack asked.

"It's only a virtual combat. You know, like online gaming." Raf said.

"Yeah Jack. What are the Bots going to do? They're probably like a thousand miles away." Miko said.

But Jack noticed something came through the door, and he saw Blaster's tentacle attack them. He managed to prevent the tentacle to grab Raf, letting him being grabbed in his place with Miko too.

"I won't let them lock on again." Raf said.

The tentacle launched Jack and Miko and turned to Raf. He evaded it and ejected the flash drive and getting out of the tentacle's way. Miko, without thinking, grabbed an emergency axe, and charged at the tentacle trying to hit it. But it evaded and hit the axe out of her hands and threw her back with the rest. And to made things worse, it grabbed the axe.

"You handed it an axe?! Jack shouted.

Luckily, the tentacle pulled away with the axe. Blaster used it to cut the hard lines after re-locked the arrays on to Cybertron. The children busted through the door, but Blaster was already on his way out. He turned to look at them. Miko took a photo of him, and Blaster did the same with them before turning into a spy plane like Soundwave and fly back to the Ark.

"Why he is leaving?" Miko asked.

"He cut the hard lines, and the dishes are locked on to Cybertron. For good." Raf said worried looking the cut lines.

Inside the Ark, the screen showed the arrays locked on Cybertron.

"Now, Bumblebee?" Grimlock asked.

"Yes." He said activating the space bridge.

The Decepticons and Aerobots observed the space bridge activation.

Optimus went to the roof of the Ark carrying the dark energon meteor on his back. "At last!" He said before throwing it into the vortex.

Megatron saw the dark energon coming and tried to shoot it before it can get through, but it was too late. The purple meteor impacted on Cybertron.

"Arise, my army!" Optimus said with his eyes glowing purple.

The dark energon expanded through the entire planet and reanimated all the dead cybertronians into Terrorbots.

"Megatron, I'm detecting a rapidly expending mass in their space bridge vortex, with a particular energy signal." Soundwave said at the moment.

"Dark energon. We are too late" Starscream added sadly.

"So, how do we beat a whole planet of the undead?" Breakdown asked.

"There is only one chance to success: we must destroy the space bridge." Megatron said.

"Destroy this giant structure? But how?" Knock Out asked.

"There is enough live energon coursing through it to achieve detonation. But we lack the firepower to ignite it." Megatron explained.

"If I had the space bridge engineer plans, I would fine a tactical way to accomplish that fate." Shockwave said.

"Huh? Will schematics help?" Raf suggested.

"I don't know how you had been able to get this data, but yes, this certainly will help us to sabotage the space bridge." Shockwave said seeing the data Raf get.

"Lord Megatron, I must say, the space bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain its destruction is our only option?" Starscream asked.

"I'm afraid so."

"Then by all means, let's us light our darkest hour!" Starscream shouted.

"What do you want us to do?" Airachnid asked.

"Decepticons, take your positions and follow Shockwave's lead. While I make my stand." Megatron said as the rest of the team left him alone.

Megatron saw something coming by jump from the Ark and land on the space bridge: the leader of the Autobots.

"Your fellow Decepticons are wise, Megatron. They know when to retreat."

"I hold no illusion about engaging your army, Optimus. But I might derail its objective, by removing its head." Megatron said pulling out his sword.

Optimus just laughts. "Highly unlikely, Megatron. As I'm infused with their very might!" Optimus said covering his mouth with his battle mask and pulling out his own sword.

"One shall stand, one shall fall."

Optimus made the first move; he jumped and attempted to slice Megatron. But he was quick to block it. Optimus tried to cut his arm off, Megatron took a step back to avoid the attack, since Optimus was close he elbowed him. While Optimus was recovering, he tried to finish him, but he recovered quickly and blocked with his sword. He tried again to terminate him, but Megatron blocked the sword with his arm and charged for him. Once he was close, Optimus used his available arm to punch him. He was sliding away, and Megatron used his sword to stop him. Meanwhile their fight continued, inside the base everyone watched the signals of the undead getting closer to the vortex.

"Those things are getting closer. That's bad, right?" Silas asked, completed recovered.

"Shockwave, we're in position." Starscream said through the com-link.

"Okay everyone, now pay close attention." Shockwave said as he read the data Raf was showing him.

Megatron threw a left hook on Optimus face, then a small slice on his torso, making him to come down on his knees.

"You know as well as I that honor don't belong to you really. And your training has not been as hard as mine, you cannot defeat me as the ways you usually fight, Optimus."

"You're right, old friend. But there is something you're forgetting, and it's that the blood of Unicron not only gives me the ability to arise the dead, it gives me more strength that you have." Optimus said with a sinister smile with his eyes glowing in purple again.

Megatron tried to slice again, but Optimus moved faster and did a strong uppercut slice. While Megatron was airborne, Optimus grabbed his leg and threw him to the ground. Face first and threw him in another direction. Now was Megatron the one on his knees and hands, with sparks all over his joints. Optimus approached him slowly, ready to execute him, but suddenly…

"Master."

"Ratchet, what is it?" Optimus asked furiously.

"I do not wish to question your all seeing wisdom, but I believe the Decepticons are up to something again. But this time beneath the space bridge." Ratchet explained.

"Ah, misdirection, Megatron? You would have made a fine Autobot." He continued to execute him, but Megatron used his sword to block him.

"I chose my side!" He shouted putting away Optimus sword. He pulled out his fusion cannon and shoots him. Optimus evaded the next shots and turned into his truck form and began driving to the other side of the space bridge, fearing he might lose.

"Ratchet, my army approaches. Tell Grimlock rendezvousing with the space bridge for pick up."

On the other side of the space bridge, the Decepticons were working on the control hidden in the debris.

"Now follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump. There should be a valve." Shockwave said through the com-link.

"I see it." Airachnid said.

"Good, to turn all power against itself all you need to do is reverse the current." Shockwave continued.

Airachnid tried to pull it, but she couldn't.

"Need a hand?" Knock Out asked.

"A little." Airachnid responded.

The two combined forces were enough to pull the lever.

"Current reversed, we can get home now." Starscream responded.

"Yes! Right?" Silas said.

"I'll ready the ground bridge." Shockwave said.

"( **We have company!** )" Stinger shouted.

Optimus came driving at the Decepticons. They all tried to shoot at him, but he evaded the blasts. On the truck's top a turret came out and returned fire. One of the turret's shots hit Airachnid in her chest.

"Airachnid!" Knock Out said as she began drifting into space.

The space bridge began to shake and small explosions were being made. Megatron turned into his jet form and took fly, while Optimus drove back to the vortex. The undead army was almost near the vortex. He transformed and noticed that the Ark was not there.

"Ratchet, where is my ship?!" Optimus shouted.

"The space bridge is becoming unstable, my liege. We would never make it." Bumblebee said.

"Don't be a fool, Optimus. Get out of there now!" Ratchet shouted.

Megatron was flying near to the space bridge surface.

"Lord Megatron, the ground bridge is ready and waiting." Shockwave said through the com-link.

"Decepticons, jump!" Megatron said flying through the ground bridge vortex.

Soon the other Decepticons followed. Soundwave grabbed Airachnid with his tentacles in his spy plane form, they all made it and the ground bridge vortex closed. Meanwhile at the space bridge, Optimus waited for his army to get through.

"My army." He said seeing that the space bridge explosions were getting bigger. "No!" He tried to reach to the closest Terrorbot, but the space bridge imploded, followed by a wave of energon was released and disappeared.

This was seen on the Ark, where everyone was shocked.

"He… he's gone." Cliffjumper said.

"No." Ratchet expressed.

"It cannot be." Bulkhead said.

"Now what are we going to do?" Bumblebee said sadly.

"Survive, like always." Grimlock said. Now this was his chance. "Autobots, it is with deep sorrow that I note for the log that Optimus's spark has been extinguished. All hail…Grimlock."

Inside the Decepticon base, everyone awaited for the team's return.

"Do you think they're…?" Raf said worried.

Megatron was the first to arrive, followed by Starscream and Knock Out. Next were Breakdown and Stinger, who reunited with Miko and Raf.

"Breakdown!" Miko shouted.

"Stinger." Raf said.

Then it was Soundwave carrying Airachnid in his arms. Jack approached her, but he saw no response on her face. Tears began to fill his eyes, so Raf and Miko tried to comfort him.

"We lost one this week. By the Allspark don't let it be two." Starscream said.

"Knock Out." Megatron said.

He immediately scanned Airachnid to check her energon levels, but instead of lamenting he smiled. "Don't cry just yet, Jack. She is still with us."

At the moment Jack placed his hand on her, Airachnid opened her eyes slowly.

"Airachnid."

"Jack, really? There are other amazing vehicles in the world." She said impressed.

"But you're more than a vehicle, you're a special friend." These words gave her a pretty smile.

"And Prime?" Shockwave asked.

"Not even he could have survived ground 0." Megatron said.

"Megatron, I didn't get to thank you Cons for the safe. I own you one. We all do. And don't worry for the children. This is where they are more safely." Silas said as he goes to the elevator.

"So is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us to forget that we ever saw you?" Miko asked to Megatron.

Megatron thought about the question, but he already knew the answer.

"Without a means of leaving this world, we Decepticons take strength in the bonds we have forged. With our three young friends. True warriors, if not in body, then in spirit. My name is Megatron and I send this message. Though we did not chose to be on Earth, it would seem we are here to stay. If you approach this planet with hostile intentions, know this. We will defend ourselves, we will defend humanity. We will defend our home."

During this message, the three kids were in route with their Decepticon guardians back to the Decepticon base at sunset.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six- New Age**

Inside the Ark, Grimlock was watching the recording of the space bridge destruction, and possibly Optimus too.

"Such a shame. But I applaud you, Prime. You've certainly made a grant exit." He said as he shut it off before Blaster arrived in the bridge. "Ah, Blaster. Now that you are here, que the audio visual. I wish to address the troops."

Blaster nodded and forwarded Grimlock's message to every single screen and speaker on the Ark.

"The loss of Optimus Prime, leader of the great Autobot uprising, is certainly a blow to our cause. Yet we mustn't despair over his tragic demise. But instead embrace his ultimate sacrifice. And build upon the foundation he laid. With an ever mightier hand."

"With all due respect, General Grim… I mean, King Grimlock." One female Autobot trooper began.

"Yes, what is it?"

"If we failed to conquer Earth under Optimus Prime's command. What hope do we have now while the Decepticons still defend it?" She asked.

"Allow me to be crystal clear. Optimus chose me as his second in command for one reason: because there is no one Autobot tougher than me. That is why I am equipped to lead you. I, Prime's true heir, Grimlock, emperor of destruction!" Grimlock said proudness.

"Have you ceased to show off?" Bumblebee said behind him.

"What did you say? I suggest that you show the proper respect to the new Autobot leader, scout." Grimlock said furious.

"First of all, nobody has chosen you as our leader." Bee reminded.

"Second, you don't have all the knowledge and wisdom that Optimus had." Ratchet continued.

"And third, even the troops are questioning now if a Dinobot is our best chance of Prime's leadership replacement." Cliffjumper finished.

As Cliffjumper said, all the present Autobot troopers in the bridge whispered doubts to each other, and it was loud enough for Grimlock to hear, and to make him angry.

"See?" Bulkhead said.

"What use are troops who can't rise to the task on inflicting unspeakable destruction in my name?" Grimlock said furious.

"Clearly we need something or someone who can return all us the Autobot spirit." Bulkhead said.

"Or maybe one who knew Optimus so well that can inspire us with his same attitude." Ratchet said.

Then, Bee remembered something. "Wait! I remember had seen one file about someone."

"You mind fill us in?" Cliff said.

"One capable warrior, who exist here, upon this very planet. One who can be student to our master." Bumblebee said smiling.

In the Decepticon base, Megatron stand alone in the main room, until Starscream and Shockwave went to see him.

"My liege, why so glum? This planet, all planets are finally free from Optimus tyranny." Starscream said.

"I do not disagree, Starscream. It's just a small part of me hoped to change Optimus's mind. Not extinguished his spark." Megatron responded.

"Megatron, his violence was not slain by your hands, but by his own twisted arrogance. I'm sorry. I know the two of you had quite a history." Shockwave said.

"Yeah, but the Optimus whom I one fought beside, perished eons ago. The day he chose to follow the way of the renegade Primes. The Autobots maybe in disarray but they aren't without leadership. And if what the others saw was true, Dinobots are far from predictable." Megatron finished.

Suddenly an explosion was made, and the whole area shook.

"Autobots! We're under attack!" Starscream said believing the worst.

The three Decepticon ran to the origin of the explosion, but Soundwave reached a hand to them, signal that everything was okay. Then, they heard someone coughing.

"It's no attack, Starscream. It's my volcano. Was." Raf said who was with Stinger.

Then Shockwave saw Miko with Breakdown on his right with some kind of balls being hung by string and lots of paint cans.

"Now hold it still, Breakdown. Jupiter needs its red spot." Miko said as she dipped the paint brush in a red paint bucket, but before she can place it on the planet model, a big drop slatted off the brush. "Oops, sorry."

"What in the Allspark is going on in here?" Starscream asked without expression.

"Our school projects due tomorrow." Jack said accompanied with Airachnid. It's seemed that their project was related with arachnid's biology.

"Maybe you need to put some legs on the rear to get some extra balance, or maybe some claws to reach to the preys." Airachnid said observing Jack's spider model.

"You are a spider, Airachnid. Should you know what arachnids' common body parts are?" Jack asked.

"You are a human, Jack. Can you build a short intestine?" She asked him the same way.

"Let me guess." Knock Out began as he entered the room. "These are some kind of challenges for you to show your teachers how much have you learn about some subjects and earn some kind of acknowledgment for the entire job done?"

"Yeah." The three children said.

"Woau, impressed. It does not mind if I join you?" Knock Out asked.

"No problem." Jack answered.

"You can even help if you want." Raf said.

"Well, I have something to say. You can't work on these projects in here. You are making a mess." Starscream said.

"But the science it's a very important part of our grade." Raf said.

"Yeah. If Breakdown doesn't help me finish this model of the solar system…" Miko said.

"Oh, and what does Breakdown know of your solar system. Or Stinger about volcanoes. Or…" Starscream said.

"Airachnid about arachnids?" Knock Out finished.

"Precisely. We are not earthlings. And they're not scientist like you, me or Shockwave."

"You're a scientist? You don't look like one, Screamer." Miko said, and the nickname she gave to Starscream made everyone laugh a little, and making him grumble.

"Well, you had heard my opinion." He reminded.

"But the Decepticons are their guardians, Starscream. Would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their school work?" Megatron added.

"Maybe our young friends should try learning more of Cybertron." Shockwave added supporting Starscream.

Meanwhile, Grimlock, Bumblebee and Blaster were on the top of a big rock canyon.

"Exactly what is what we're looking for?" Grimlock asked.

"During the Great War so much energon was hidden on this forsaken rock, that our departed master sent some of Cybertron's greatest to guard it. True warriors, now lying in stasis. Waiting to be reawakened." Bumblebee explained.

"Heh, such folly that in live Optimus searched distant space for warriors rather than here. Beneath his feet." Grimlock added.

Blaster's face showed no signal.

"What do you mean you can't pinpoint her signal? I know we're close." Bee said.

"Boost all power into your sensors!" Grimlock shouted.

This time, Blaster detected one signal.

"Yes, right there." Bee said.

"Take us there." Grimlock ordered.

Blaster changed into his spy plane form and flew into the canyon, while Bumblebee drove in his Camaro form and Grimlock in his T-Rex form. In the Decepticon base, Raf was rebuilding his volcano as Stinger was talking about his adventures on Cybertron.

"( **So I was there, running through the streets of Iacon with an important message. Shooting every Bot who tried to stay in my way, and I finally met with Megatron and we both go to reunite the scattered troops.** )" Stinger told.

"It's incredible, Stinger. You sure are a great warrior."

"( **Well, I'm not officially a warrior. I'm still a scout-class.** )"

"Then how do you make warrior-class?"

"( **A lot of experience.** )"

"But I've seen you in action. You're awesome."

"( **Thank you very much, Raf.** )"

"I second your opinion, Rafael. But cybertronian life cycles are much longer than those of humans. And maybe is hard to believe that our young scout still has much to experience." Megatron said placing his hand on Stinger's shoulder.

Suddenly the computer set off an alert. "Lord Megatron, energon signal detected. And it's on the move." Soundwave said.

"And since we aren't moving it. Guess who must be?" Breakdown said.

"Autobots." Knock Out finished.

"Without Prime?" Miko asked.

"Unfortunately Optimus's legacy will live on. As others rise to take his place. Decepticons, you have projects to complete. Starscream, I may require aid." Megatron said.

"Actually, my liege, I may have not understood how important those science projects to their grades are." Starscream said looking at Raf working. "Perhaps I'm better suited here and help them, but I need more still hands. Knock Out, let's give them a hand."

"Right now."

"Very well. Stinger, let us see about this energon on the move." Megatron said as he agreed.

Inside the canyon, Bumblebee and Blaster were pulling out a large tomb from one cave while Grimlock was looking, but it was very heavy.

"You could give us a hand, no?" Bee said.

"Why? You two are doing a great job." Grimlock said sarcastically.

"Maybe because you are a big Bot, your highness?" Bee responded.

"That is the answer I wanted to hear." Grimlock said as he grabbed the tomb and pulled very easily. "Now what?"

"Okay Blaster, give me the energon cube." Bee said.

Blaster opened a compartment and pulled out a small energon cube. He handles it to Bumblebee, who inserted it into the only opening in the tomb. This one and whoever was in began to power up.

"The energon infusion, it's working." Bumblebee said triumphal.

Not far from there, the ground bridge opened and Stinger and Megatron came through it.

"( **Everything here seems very normal.** )"

"No, Stinger, it is not. Hold your position and away my command." Megatron said as he advanced to the Autobots position.

The tomb was opening slowly, but it was reaching to its end.

"Awaken, warrior. Rise and serve your new master." Grimlock said when the last door opened.

The sunlight woke up the new Autobot. It was a female, very similar to Optimus Prime, but she was completely yellow with red eyes. Not as high as Grimlock, but she was sure a big Autobot, more than Bumblebee. After emerging from the tomb, she stretched her limbs before looking to Grimlock.

"A female?! Is this the warrior we're looking for?!" Grimlock said.

"Causeway serves only one master!" She bellowed with determination.

"You see? Her loyalty and devotion will set a fine example for the troops." Bumblebee explained to Grimlock.

"Impressive. No need to be timid, Causeway, you may bow." Grimllock said.

She started to laugh. "You fail to grasp my meaning, Dinobot. I am here on a mission, assigned to me by my true master, Optimus Prime." Causeway expressed.

"Yes, him. Sadly he's no longer with us." Grimlock answered.

"What? That is impossible." She responded.

"You knew Optimus?" Bee asked.

"Of course. I was one of his most experienced students, the best warriors trained by himself, his elite." Causeway said.

"Clearly she can help us in this moment of need." Bumblebee added.

"No!" Grimlock shouted. "Why is this so difficult for everyone to accept? Causeway, I located you. I awakened you. Thus I, King Grimlock, am now your master!"

She faced him, but before anyone did anything, someone interrupted them.

"It has been a while, Causeway."

She turned to see the newcomer, ignoring Grimlock. "Megatron, I haven't seen you since the battle of Technaar. Prime ordered me to annihilate you. It was a mistake that other Con fooled me saying that he was there to protect you, but fortunately, at the end it was fun to battle with Skyquake, before turning him into scrap."

"That was a long time ago".

"That maybe, Megatron. But my orders still stand."

Stinger was watching from a distance, hidden behind a boulder.

"Is this ancient war still worth fighting? When so many comrades had been lost? And worlds destroyed? If you want to be a true leader, Grimlock, then stray from Optimus's path and lead the Autobots toward peace."

"I only am willing to consider a truce, if you were willing to bow before me, Megatron." Grimlock responded.

"Again? Bow to this!" Causeway punched Grimlock on his face.

"Okay, if you want to honor your master's memory, I suggest you to take him down." Grimlock said transforming and left the scenario.

"Causeway, this is a new era, on another world. Side with the Decepticons and help me end this conflict forever." Megatron said.

"I only take orders from a Prime, no of a simple gladiator!" She said charging at Megatron with a battle cry.

She threw a left hook on Megatron, making him crash with the wall. Before she could attack again, Megatron grabbed her and threw her. Blaster, Bumblebee and Grimlock observed the battle on the cliff's top.

"If what Causeway said is true, then she will be able to take down Megatron without help." Bee said.

"What need have we for peace, when we can do anything in war? And with some discipline, Causeway will learn to respect her new master. And once it becomes known that she destroyed Megatron under my command, all Autobots will gratefully bow to me." Grimlock said to himself.

Stinger observed the fight. Causeway tried first to shoot at Megatron with her guns, but the effect wasn't too big, not like Megatron's fusion cannon. But she recovered quickly and charged at Megatron again, so he decided to pull out his blade to close combat. Unfortunately, Causeway was very fast for her side, but the worst part was her secret weapons: she turned her hands into two chainsaws. These weapons made much damage to Megatron.

"( **I give you a hand.** )" Stinger said charging in foolishly.

"Stinger, no!" Megatron yelled.

Too late, Stinger shot a few blast on Causeway. She turned her attention to him and fired at him. But he was fast enough to avoid the shots. He jumped above her, but the big Autobot grabbed him and threw him into a rock wall. Causeway pulled out one of her chainsaws, but at the moment she tried to slice Stinger, Megatron blocked with his blade. Stinger charged at her again, but she grabbed and threw him again.

"Do not miss a single moment, Blaster! We shall need visual documentation of Megatron's demise. For the historical record." Bee said to Blaster, who was recording the battle.

Megatron and Causeway threw and received punches, kicks, kneeing and elbowing to each other. Until Causeway elbowed Megatron on his face, causing him to step back with Stinger.

"( **Can she transform?** )" Stinger asked.

"No, Causeway has not yet acquired a vehicle form." Megatron said. In that moment Causeway pulled out her guns. "Fall back!" Megatron shouted as he and Stinger changed to their vehicle forms and stayed away, making a great cloud of dust and sand.

"So time has made you a coward, Megatron?" Causeway said as she continued blasting blindly.

At the same time in the Decepticon base, Knock Out was working on Raf's volcano under Starscream's supervision.

"That's it, Knock Out. Keep it up in that way." Starscream said.

"Hum, what is it?" Raf asked.

"You'll find out." Starscream answered.

"But Knock Out, shouldn't I be doing the job?" Raf said.

"Hum, wait. You're right; this must be your doing after all." Knock Out realized.

"Don't stop." Starscream said to Knock Out before turning to Raf. "And you don't touch, just watch and learn."

"What is Starscream doing with Knock Out?" Breakdown asked.

"He came with the idea of helping the kids with their school projects by the advantage of cybertronian technology knowledge. I must say, that is very kind coming for him, and very logical." Shockwave explained.

"Well, we better go and help Jack and Miko finish their…" Airachnid said.

"Without proper work, and supervision?! You want them to be right, don't you?" Starscream asked them. "Then watch how professional's work is done. Knock Out, procced."

"Okay everyone, watch a master at work." Knock Out said continuing with his job.

"Control freak." Miko said.

Meanwhile in the canyon…

"We've lost sight of them? Blaster, how it is possible to you to lost their trails?" Bumblebee asked to him. Then Blaster showed that he was tracking other thing.

"What, what is it?" Grimlock asked interested.

"A second Autobot life signal?" Bee said.

"But you said that Causeway was the only sleeper buried in this area, don't you?" Grimlock reminded.

Blaster showed to them the exact location. "The site of our destroyed space bridge. You're not telling me that, that signal belongs to Optimus?" Bee said hopeful.

At the moment of heard that, Grimlock feared the worst: if Optimus Prime was still alive, he would not have any chance of ruling the Autobots.

"But he was microns from the detonation point. Nothing could have survived that blast! Your sensors must be faulting. Ignore the contact, delete the coordinates. Focus on looking again Causeway taking down Megatron." Grimlock said.

"What?! Are you crazy, Grimlock?! If it's true that our leader has survived, we need to confirm it and help him!" Bumblebee yelled.

Then, Grimlock thought of something. "Hum, you're right, this must be investigated. If Optimus Prime is up there, I shall bring him home. Blaster, open a ground bridge portal to that location for me." Grimlock ordered. Immediately a ground bridge portal opened under them. "You two remain here and monitor the outcome. When Causeway snuffs Megatron's spark, I must bear witness." He said before jumping to the vortex.

"Blaster, don't ask me why, but I believe Grimlock is up to something, and that it's related with Optimus. We better let's see what's going on up there too." Bee said, and Blaster nodded. He deployed Sundor to fly into space and watch Grimlock.

High in the sky an F-35 flew nearby, one which belongs to agent Silas. Suddenly, he heard a transmission on the radio.

"Tengo-Six-Alpha to central command. We are picking a transmission coming from unidentified technology, possibly hostile. We are moving in to investigate."

"Negative, Tengo-Six-Alpha. This special agent Silas, intercepting. Strike your report from the records and provide origin coordinates. I'll take it from here." Silas said.

Down below, Causeway was following Stinger in car mode, until he was cornered in a dead end. He changed to his robot mode, ready to fight her.

"Oh, it would be a shame to slice you, young one. But it is my duty. And I enjoy doing my duty." She said sinisterly pulling out her chainsaws again.

An engine roar caught her attention. She turned to see Megatron coming in his jet form to her. She tried to shot at him, but he came very fast. He changed to his robot form and punched her with great strength, sending Causeway crashing into some rocks.

"Excellent strategy, Stinger." Megatron complemented.

"( **I have learned from the best.** )" Stinger added.

Causeway tried to counterattack by scraping Megatron's chest.

"Causeway, stay down." Megatron said punching on her face. Finally she fell flat on her back. Then Megatron noticed something in the sky. "Silas."

While the Decepticons were too busy with the jet's identification, Causeway saw that beneath the rocks she crushed there was a heavy semi-trailer truck, similar to Optimus's vehicle form.

"Hum, maybe that can be well for me." Causeway said as she began to scan it.

"Megatron? What is going on here?" Silas said through the com-link.

"Don't worry, agent Silas. We have the situation under control." Megatron said.

But then a yellow heavy truck drove above them and went inside the canyon. They noticed that should be Causeway in a new vehicle form. Then the vehicle turned to them.

"Try to beat me now, Deceticreeps." Causeway said charging at them.

The truck pulled out two heavy turrets and fired with a lot of firepower, but the Decepticons dodged the explosions.

"From my point of view that doesn't seem like a controlled situation." Silas saw inside his jet.

Causeway continued chasing the Decepticons, making then to change into vehicle form to avoid her attacks. She opened her front line showing a few missiles. She was about to fire them at Stinger when agent Silas fired at her, so she was forced to avoid his shots. Then she targeted at Silas jet and fired the missiles. Soon Silas radar detected it.

"Heat seekers, huh?" Silas said looking the radar. He flew left and right around the canyon's walls, until he got to a giant cliff side. He pulled up and the missiles hit the cliff wall. "I still got it." He said with a smile.

Between the space bridge wreckage, Grimlock was jumping on the pieces, exploring the zone.

"No one could have survived this. Hum, as I suspected, faulty sensors. The last thing I need now are rumors that Optimus Prime is still…"

But then a loud, agonizing moan was heard from a distant. Grimlock jumped over many debris to find where the moaning came from. He surprised looking that it was Optimus Prime's corpse.

"Optimus Prime?" Grimlock said approaching to the body. Suddenly he grabbed Grimlock, but he was too weak, so he released him and closes his optics. "But how?" Then Grimlock saw Optimus spark's chamber turned apart with something purple glowing inside. "Dark energon." He went face to face with Optimus. "Everyone believes you are deceased. Who am I to disappoint them? But I secure you this, Optimus. I will be a better leader than you were ever, and where you fell, I will triumph." With all this said, Grimlock pulled out the shard from Optimus's spark's chamber. He tried to reach for it, but his lights went out. "Now rust in peace." Then Grimlock heard a flying noise and noticed something from the distance. "Sundor." Indeed, Sundor was reaching there, so he immediately hid the shard behind his back and grabbed Optimus with his other hand, before Sundor began recording what was happening. "Blaster, if you're listening, I have found Optimus Prime. But he is unwell. We must transport him to sickbay immediately. So call the troops and warn Ratchet."

Meanwhile Causeway continued her target practice with Stinger, but Megatron began shooting at her from the sky, attracting her attention.

"Agent Silas, we require immediate assistance." Megatron said before a missile hit him and made him land in his robot form.

Stinger drove to the highest part of a cliff, and then he turned to his robot form and jumped from the top, landing on Causeway. She tried to take him off and smash him against the canyon's walls, but he didn't lose his grip.

"You're tough. What are you going to do now?" Causeway challenged him.

Again over her, Stinger ripped out wire the connection points from her.

"Ouch! Hey, that hurts!" Causeway said.

Stinger did it a couple of times. That caused her to lose all control and drove very bad.

"( **Clearly this was a bad idea!** )" Stinger said still above Causeway.

He saw that they were driving at a big fall, fortunately Silas's jet stood beside them.

"Any time, friend. Ground 4 is coming fast." Silas said to Stinger.

It was close and fast enough for Stinger to jump on Silas jet, and put himself safe. But Causeway fell to the canyon's depth, leaving a fiery explosion.

"Happy landings, Bot." Silas said looking the crash site.

The jet flew low to the ground for Stinger to get off. After that, Silas flew back to his destination. Stinger and Megatron approached the crash site, when the smoke cleared, they saw Causeway all twisted, with only her upper half completely transformed. She was still alive, but dying. Knowing that she was suffering, Megatron decided to finish her life and make her rest at last. He shot his fusion cannon, and then Causeway closed her optics.

"( **At least her death was quick.** )" Stinger said looking her.

"That Causeway chosen to stray on her master's path, we might not be burying her today." Megatron said before he began putting rocks over her.

High above, Blaster and Bumblebee just stood and watched from the same spot.

"They defeated her?" Bee asked to Blaster, who nodded. "Now she's resting with all our fallen comrades in the Allspark. Let's go and help Grimlock, at least we have recovered our master." Bee said before the two Autobots returned to the Ark.

Sometime after that, inside the Decepticon base, Stinger had finished healing his wounds from the last combat.

"Stinger, putting yourself at risk was perhaps not the wisest of strategies, but you performed admirably." Megatron said.

"( **Thanks, my liege. I can't wait to tell it to everyone.** )" Stinger said.

"Okay, you are totally fine now. No scratches or marks in your armor, you have luck that no missile hit you in any part of your body, or I would work for the night." Knock Out said, finishing scanning Stinger when a few noises came from the base entrance. "Ah, here they are." He said enthusiastic.

Breakdown and Airachnid came inside the base with the children.

"Well? How were my… I mean our works perceived?" Knock Out asked eager.

"Yeah, I want to know the details too." Starscream said.

"Well…" Raf started.

A flashback showed Miko in her astronomy class with a huge metallic planet model painted in dark blue and golden yellow, with two moons orbiting the planet in the same colors as well.

"Miss Nakadai, what planet would that be?" The teacher asked.

"Um, Cybertron?" She said before the planet detached from the wire support and crushed the teacher's desk.

The next one was Jack with a metallic replica of a prehistoric giant scorpion.

"It's large, Mister Darby. But, it can move?" The teacher asked.

Jack activated a button and immediately the scorpion acted like it was alive and made a rampage in the class and went outside, beginning attacking other students in all school. And the last was Raf, with a big metallic volcano with static sparks and electrical humming.

"I hesitate to ask, Mister Esquivel, but is it active?" The teacher asked.

Raf took a few steps back and pressed a button on the remote control. The volcano erupted and fired a large beam of lava, which broke through the roof and continued skyward.

"What?! They considered those projects a failure?! Well on our planet you would have been awarded the highest honors, and extra notes for science contribution! Surely humans don't know how to appreciate the job done." Starscream shouted before turning back to the computers.

"That was a shame. I'm sorry guys; I got carried away by enthusiasm." Knock Out apologized to the children.

"Don't worry Knock Out. You did it with your best intention." Raf said, trying to cheer him.

"( **Maybe this situation would have been different if they had not heard him.** )" Stinger added.

"Indeed, Stinger. Our human friends would have been wise to stray from Starscream's path." Shockwave said. "Maybe if I was the one who had helped them…"

Meanwhile, inside the Ark's medical bay…

"He's stable, for now." Ratchet said.

"You can make him feel better?" Bulkhead asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm only can diagnostic how much damage his body has received. But his situation is delicate; any try to improve his condition could worsen it. The only thing we can do right now is connect him to a life support machine. He will remain safe this way, until I have the proper materials and hand work for help him." Ratchet concluded.

"You have done everything you can now, doctor. At least we still have him alive. We still have hope." Bee said.

"Well, the troops will be pleased to hear of our success in rushing Optimus Prime into stasis." Cliffjumper added.

"Let us hope our master pulls through." Grimlock said angrily watching Optimus Prime connected to the support life machine by multiple cables.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven- Infestation**

There was a powerful blizzard right where Breakdown and Stinger were for a scouting mission, in the Arctic.

"( **Are we there yet?** )" Stinger asked.

"No, we're not there yet. But it should be just passed this ridge, Stinger." Breakdown said looking at his tracking device.

They reached the ridge and sled down the snow to the very bottom.

"I don't get it. These reading are off the meter." Breakdown yelled.

"( **I found it!** )" Stinger shouted.

The thing they were tracking was inside the glacier, some sort of giant, metallic containment pod. Sometime after, the two Decepticons were connected with some cables inside their base.

"I told you, Knock Out. We're fine." Breakdown said pulling out some cables.

"The only way to be certain you're fine, Breakdown, is to endure standard defrosting procedure. You know prolong exposure to subzero conditions can cause permanent system damage?" Knock Out said.

"So, have you learned anything about our Arctic find?" Megatron said entering the room.

"Not yet, my liege. The pod can't be opened while it's frozen solid." Starscream added.

The ice was still melting off the pod when some noise comes from it. Something was hitting the pod from inside. Then a claw busted through the pod. After some time, the Decepticons were preparing the ground bridge for another departure.

"Starscream, Airachnid and I will search for any clues which might explain the origin of our Arctic find." Megatron said.

"Only until your sensors sound. Remember, once your core temperature drops into the blue zone, system failures aren't likely, they're eminent." Knock Out said aiming a device at Megatron, Starscream and Airachnid's Decepticon emblem on them.

"Then we'll call for a ground bridge before any trouble happen." Starscream said.

Then they all heard a driving noise as Breakdown and Stinger came with the kids.

"Miss us, professor?" Miko said.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Shockwave said confused.

"On Saturday?" Miko said as Breakdown and Stinger transformed. "We have the whole weekend off to spend with you."

Shockwave didn't say anything. He had no idea that humans can have a lot of free time.

"Well, at least you're not going to feel lonely, Shockwave. And fortunately for me I am going to be out for a while." Starscream said with a smile, earning a glare from Shockwave.

"I wasn't expecting a car pool. What gives, Airachnid?" Jack asked to his partner.

"Tag team Jack. It's my turn for exploration duty." She explained.

"Aw too bad. It's a beautiful day for a flight. I would hate for you feel guilty for leaving me indoors." Jack said.

"Jeje, you know how much I like to fly with you. But I'm not sure if you like to do it in middle of the Arctic." She responded.

"Indoors where it's warm." Jack said as he pointed in a different direction.

"The Arctic? I've always wanted to see snow." Raf said.

"I would invite you to join, Rafael. But the conditions are much too extreme, even for us, Decepticons." Megatron explained.

"I understand." Raf said with his face drooped a little.

"Oh, don't worry Raf. If you want I can bring you back a snowball." Starscream said.

"That would be awesome." Raf responded, leaving Starscream surprised that he would be content with little.

The three Decepticons walked through the ground bridge and disappeared.

"Transport completed." Soundwave said. He was about to close the ground bridge when the handle sparked and smoke came out of it. "Shockwave, you must see this." He said alarmed.

Shockwave came to see what was wrong. "By the Allspark."

Meanwhile the kids walked up to the higher platform where they would relax.

"So, what do you guys think we should do today?" Miko asked.

"( **I know. How about a competition of video games?** )" Stinger proposed.

"Video game tournament." Raf said.

"( **That is!** )" Stinger confirmed.

"Last one standing wins!" Raf said sitting with the others.

"Breakdown, Stinger, Knock Out! Here, now!" Shockwave called.

"I guess our free time is over." Knock Out said.

"( **Maybe later, Raf.** )" Stinger said.

Raf was about to reach for the last console remote, but Miko grabbed it before he could.

"Prepare to be destroyed." Miko said as she handled the other game controller to Jack.

"Yeah, not really my thing Miko."

"Oh, scared of losing, to a girl?" She began to taunt.

Jack sighed and took the controller. "Bring it."

"No mercy." She said as they began to play to a race video game as Raf looked at the screen with sad eyes. Jack noticed this and felt a little guilty.

"Hey Raf, you want to take on Miko for me?" He said offering him the game controller.

"Nah, I have stuff to do." He said leaving the couch and Jack competing against Miko.

At the same time, the Decepticons reunited in the ground bridge controls.

"You can't boss us around just because the boss is out." Breakdown yelled.

"We need some heavy lifters. The ground bridge is down." Shockwave explained.

"What?! Was the transport incomplete before it went down?" Knock Out asked worried.

"Negative. Airachnid, Starscream and Megatron made it through in time." Soundwave informed as he was analyzing the damage.

"It's getting them back that must concern us. Now remove those panels. Right now!" Shockwave said pointing to the floor.

In other part of the base, Raf was simulating that he was on the Arctic exploration mission.

"Temperature subzero and dropping. Got to get back to base." Raf said. Suddenly he heard a metallic crawling from the other end of the wall and saw a huge screw rolling on the floor. He grabbed it as he continued hearing the sound from above him and in from of him. "Hello?" He asked nervous hearing the sound from behind him. He took a few steps back and tripped with something.

He looked up and saw something unexpected: a robotic creature about his same size, with four arthropod legs and two little arms and a large head with two eyes ( **similar to the scraplet from Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark** ).

"Ah!" He scurried back away from it, but the creature seemed to be curious and went closer. "Where did you come from?" The creature just looked him without respond. "The Decepticons never said anything about pets." Raf picked up the screw. "You want to play fetch?" The creature was hopping and running in circles. He threw it and off the robot went. "Good boy, go get it." As the creature reached the screw it started eating it. "No. Don't eat that. You're going to choke." But it ate it completely without chocking. "Or not?"

It went to him and cuddle to his head with happy chirping and clicks, making Raf tickles. They went back to the main hall, without knowing that down the corridor an outlet was ripped to shreds. In that moment, Jack and Miko were almost finishing their race.

"Come on, come on, you want some?" Jack said.

"Take this!" Miko pushed Jack out of the couch. "Yes, I won!"

"Hey, not fair! That's cheating!"

"In love and war everything is fair." Miko said dancing celebrating her victory. But then the lights went off and she stopped. "What?"

"Power failure. It seems that it wiped out our game." Jack said.

"What?! But I was winning!" She protested.

"Don't be a bad looser." Jack said with a smile.

"Bummer." Miko said angry.

The kids decided to see what the Decepticons were doing. They found them looking a microchip that had several tiny bite marks.

"We most definitely have a problem, but what could've caused this?" Shockwave said before the lights flickered off and turned back on.

"Or that?" Knock Out added.

"Might be the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction." Soundwave said.

"Hey guys, look what I've found!" Raf said.

"Sorry Raf, but we're busy. Right now we can't take a look of what have you…Ah!" Knock Out said looking at the creature that laded behind Raf.

All the Decepticons, even Soundwave, screamed and aimed their guns at the creature.

"Hey, hey. What's with you guys?" Miko asked as she and Jack went in front of Raf.

"Scraplet! SCRAPLET!" Breakdown shouted in fear.

"What's a scraplet?" Raf asked.

"The most dangerous vermin to ever crawl upon the face of Cybertron." Shockwave answered.

"This? Are you kidding me?" Jack said.

"Absolutely negative." Soundwave responded nervous.

"You're giant robots, Scrappy here is teeny." Miko said.

"You have no idea the damage that teeny thing can do!" Knock Out said with worry.

"Aw, he wouldn't hurt anything." Raf said cuddling the creature, making it woke up.

But when the scraplet saw the Decepticons, its eyes spliced revealing a big mouth with big sharp teeth. It came through the humans and chomped its way towards the Decepticons. Stinger began to fire at it, but it was too quick and jumped out of the way. It then jumped onto Stinger's leg and began to eat it. Stinger fell to the floor, while the kids gasp in horror. Soundwave grabbed the scraplet with his tentacle, but it bit through it and began to chomp his tentacle. He knocked it off and the scraplet fell on the floor. It was ready to attack again, but Raf smashed the scraplet with a crowbar until it was scrap metal.

"Whoa, easy there, killer." Jack said grabbing the crowbar from his hand.

"Wow, I did not see that coming." Miko said.

Raf went to see if Stinger was fine. "I'm sorry, Stinger!"

"( **It's okay Raf. You didn't know that.** )" Stinger said.

"Is he going to be okay?" Raf asked to Knock Out, who was checking his wound.

"It's only a mesh wound. Don't worry, he will live." Knock Out said.

"Now do you believe it? All scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal. Especially living metal!" Breakdown said.

"Well, bug squashed. Game over. Right?" Jack said.

"No. When it comes to scraplets there is never just one. And I fear I know how they got in here." Shockwave said.

They all walk over to the pod that they found in the Arctic. There was a gigantic hole in the pod as there was nothing inside.

"Just what I feared, it's a trap. A scraplet trap." Shockwave said examining the pod.

"Uh, an empty scraplet trap." Knock Out said with worry.

"Most likely ejected into space eons ago, only to wind up in the Arctic where the temperature kept them in stasis." Shockwave said.

"Until we brought the thaw." Jack said.

"Now they're awake and ready to brunch." Miko added.

"So, how many are we talking about?" Raf asked.

"Thousands. Power malfunctions and ground bridge damage are sure signs that their infestation is well underway." Soundwave deduced.

Meanwhile in the Arctic the 3 Decepticons continued searching for more clues. Suddenly their Decepticon emblems began to blink blue.

"Lord Megatron, Airachnid, my emblem has begun to turning blue. What's your status?" Starscream communicated.

"My sensors are going off too. Guess we should call pick up before things get chilly." Airachnid said.

"Megatron to base. Core temperature readings have reached the blue zone. Prepare to activate the ground bridge." Megatron said through his com-link, but the only thing he heard was electric static. Megatron feared something was wrong.

In the base, the rest of the team tried to contact their friends too.

"Soundwave to Megatron. Do you read me? We have a situation. There is no response. Surely the scraplets have gotten into the commlink system."

"If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they'll reduce the entire base to scrapheap!" Shockwave shouted.

"Well I say we bail out of here and let them keep it!" Breakdown suggested.

"( **I agreed.** )" Stinger said.

"Me too." Knock Out added.

"Evacuation is not an option. If we don't get the ground bridge online stat, Megatron, Starscream and Airachnid will perish." Shockwave said.

"They will?" Jack asked worried.

"Breakdown, you never run." Miko said.

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a Bot, I have. They pick you apart from the inside out. Going for the small, juicy bits first. Fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit. Till there is nothing left and I mean nothing." Breakdown explained.

"Not even your optics." Knock Out added.

"You have to let us help." Jack proposed.

"We're not made of metal." Raf reminded.

"Yeah, the scraplets can't hurt us!" Miko added.

"Typically, I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality, but it is logical that can provide an advantage under these extremes." Shockwave supported. "Have you any idea?"

"Okay, good. So we divide us, one Con, one human. Shockwave, Soundwave, I will watch your backs while you both repair the ground bridge." Jack said.

"And we go on a bug hunt." Miko finished.

The other Decepticons looked at each other and shuttered in fear. At the same time, the 3 Cons in the Arctic still tried to contact to base.

"Megatron to base, do you read?"

Then Airachnid collapsed. Starscream gave her a hand.

"This is getting worse every time we move. We're going so slowly." Airachnid said.

"My liege, are you sure a nice long flight wouldn't help? I heard Miami is beautiful this time a year." Starscream proposed.

"The nearest temperate climate is too distant, Starscream. Attempting to reach it would expel too much energy, increasing the freezing process. Until Shockwave sends for us, and he will, our best option will be seek shelter, and isolate ourselves." Megatron explained.

Miko, Breakdown and Knock Out were walking down the hallway looking for scraplets.

"I get to be your bodyguard for once. How cool is that?" Miko said.

"So, Raf found the first one here, right?" Knock Out asked. Then the lights flickered off and a girlish scream was heard. After that the lights came back.

"Do you just scream like a little girl?" Miko asked to Knock Out while Breakdown was laughing a little.

"No…maybe… can we talk about this later?" Knock Out said trying to get off topic.

They continued the search down the hall.

"Take it easy, guys. Just stay focus. Everything is going to be fine." Miko said trying to keep them calmed.

"Thanks for the encouragement, Miko. If it wasn't for you, I don't know how much we…" Knock Out said when suddenly they heard a little tapping.

Then Breakdown began to fire with his shoulder turret everywhere, until he fired to the ceiling and made a hole, where it appeared a lot of cables. Miko and Knock Out were ready to fight, but when they saw Breakdown screaming and swinging the cables, Miko's mouth dropped and Knock Out busted out laughing.

"Okay, wish I hadn't seen that." Miko said.

"Breakdown, calm down. It's just a bunch of cables." Knock Out said.

Breakdown immediately stopped and sighed in relief. "Right, cables."

But when he pulled one of the cables, scraplets began to fall from the ceiling as Breakdown tried to swat them away and Knock Out trying to slice them with his buzz saws. In another corridor of the base, Raf and Stinger were hunting too.

"( **I don't like the looks of this.** )" Stinger said.

"Don't these things ever stop eating?" Raf asked.

They walked near an air vent with a hole in it. Stinger then beckoned Raf to stay behind as he pulled the opening. Raf got into fighting stance and Stinger aimed his guns, but nothing was there. They heard a shredding noise from behind as their faces were filled with fear. The scraplets then came out through another hole in the ground near to them. Stinger began to fire rapidly as the creatures came towards him. In the main hall Jack was watching for any scraplets while Soundwave and Shockwave were doing reparations.

"How's is going over there?" Jack asked.

"We've repaired the damaged conductors and rerouted the central conduits. But the ground bridge still won't receive power!" Shockwave exclaimed in frustration as he slammed his fist into the ground.

Then Soundwave showed something on his screen. "Alert, near movement detected."

Jack heard a metal ticking noise coming from above him. He saw a lot of scraplets on the wall which looked him before turning to the Decepticons. They opened their mouths as they began flying towards them.

"They fly?! You never said they could fly!" Jack said impressed.

"Laserbeak, eject. Operation: evasive maneuvers!" Soundwave said releasing his Minicon.

Shockwave tried to fire his shock cannon at them, but they were too fast and avoided all the shots. Soundwave was able to take down some scraplets with his electrified tentacles and his laser guns coming from above his hands, and with Laserbeak distracting them with his fire and avoiding them because he was faster. But the scraplets didn't stop coming and they managed to attack Soundwave from behind and made Shockwave fell back from the combined force.

"Soundwave! Shockwave!" Jack yelled as he tried to take the scraplets off of them with his crowbar.

"Jack! The fire extinguisher, hurry!" Shockwave said in pain.

Jack dropped the crowbar and grabbed the near fire extinguisher and fired against the scraplets on both Decepticons, and fortunately it killed them instantly.

Then the others returned at the main hall, the Cons covered in scratches. "Shockwave! Handle me my patch kid! We're leaking energon like-! Whoa!" Knock Out said looking all the scraplets coming at them.

Stinger and Knock Out tried to shot the scraplets out of the air.

"Eat this. Hammer time!" Breakdown said smashing some scraplets with his hammer, but he fell when he looked some scraplets biting his other hand.

In a few moments all the Decepticons collapsed to the ground, and the kids were doing everything for save them. In that moment, Megatron and the others found some shelter from the blizzard, but someone were more affected.

"Airachnid, wake up! Don't fall asleep!" Starscream shouted.

"Just resting my eyes." She said.

"The longer we remain alert, the longer we remain alive." Megatron reminded.

"So, what do you suggest to pass time?" Airachnid asked.

"Wait, how about a game? Let's play Who Screwed things up Back at Base." Starscream said.

"Our predicament could be the result of a simple malfunction." Megatron though.

"Caused by Breakdown. Let's see, no com-link, maybe even no power. The big lug probably tripped over a cord." Airachnid suggested.

"Yeah, he's never been so graceful. Remember when we first arrive on Earth and Breakdown walked into those power lines?" Starscream said laughing a little. "Who knew he could dance like that."

"Really? It's a shame that I never saw that." Airachnid added.

"Je, Breakdown maybe is too large for this world. But his inner strength is without bounds. One must not be measured by size only." Megatron said.

A few minutes later, in the main hall of the base, all scraplets were dead, with their legs in an upward direction, like bugs. The Decepticons were still alive, but too much damage to stay on their feet, so they leaned against the wall moaning in pain, except Laserbeak who was intact and was helping the kids to make sure that the creatures were dead.

"We get them all?" Jack asked.

Then they heard an echo of mechanical whirling and grinding.

"Negative, these were just scouts." Soundwave said.

"( **And the Autobots call me a parasite?!** )" Stinger said in surprise.

"So the rest of them know we're in here?" Breakdown asked nervously.

"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal, Megatron, Airachnid and Starscream will never make it home. We must get the ground bridge operational." Shockwave declared.

"Then we can use it to send the scraplets anywhere on Earth." Raf deduced.

"Why not back to the Arctic? We already know they don't do cold." Jack suggested.

"Sweet! One-stop shopping." Miko cheered.

"Given the body mass of the scraplets, sub-zero temperatures should freeze them on contact. So think now, Shockwave. If the ground bridge is still down, there must be a breach in the energon fuel line, that's the only logical explanation." Shockwave deduced.

Any of the other Cons were strong enough to get up.

"( **It hurts a lot.** )" Stinger said.

"If we weren't breaching, one of us could go back over there and fix it." Knock Out said.

"Why do not we send Laserbeak? After all he's the one who is still fine." Breakdown suggested.

"Impossible, Laserbeak can't perform repairing activities with scraplet presence." Soundwave said.

"Exactly, if the scraplets caught him, they will devour him in seconds." Shockwave reminded.

"Then other must go to repair it. Laserbeak, you stay here and keep an eye on them, make sure that they stay safe." Miko said to Laserbeak, who nodded.

"Right, other must go and make those reparations. But who?" Knock Out asked.

"Where do we find it?" Jack asked.

"And how do we fix it?" Raf asked.

Shockwave gave them instructions about how to fix the breach and the proper material. After that, the kids were walking beside the scraplets, which only looked them with curiosity, but they were a little precautious.

"Remember, we're okay. We're not metal." Jack added.

Then they saw a pipe leaking energon from it.

"There's the breach. Come on, we have to work fast!" Jack said as they ran over and began to patch it up.

The Decepticons were still waiting.

"So if we get… When we get the ground bridge open, we send the creepy-crawlies out or bring the Cons in?" Knock Out asked.

"Starscream, Airachnid and Megatron will be fresh meat. If we bring them first the scraplets will have no reason to leave. We'll need bait." Shockwave said.

"And where are we going to get bait?! The scraplets've already helped themselves to everything in here!" Knock Out protested.

The kids finished with the reparations when the scraplets swarm began to take fly.

"They're getting ready to feed!" Raf discovered.

The scraplets went again to the main hall, while all the Decepticons looked at them with fear. Laserbeak flew to catch their attention for buy time. In the Arctic, the 3 Decepticons were almost tired.

"You know the worst part, guys? After battling Bots all these years. Smacked down, shot up, and blown up. This is how our lights go out?" Airachnid said.

"This may not be the finish that we have planned. But if this is indeed the end, if we are to become one with the Allspark." Megatron said as he, Starscream and Airachnid put their hands together.

"It's been an honor serving with you, Lord Megatron." Starscream said.

Fortunately inside the base, the humans arrived in time.

"Guys, all systems go!" Jack shouted.

"Fire it up!" Miko yelled.

"Ground bridge…activated." Soundwave panted as he activated the ground bridge before he collapsed on the ground.

The vortex opened just a few yards away from the Decepticons. Megatron woke up and saw it.

Breakdown looked at the ground bridge and an idea came to his head. "Bait, huh?" He slowly got up and began waving to the scraplets. "You want the main course? Come and get it!" Breakdown limped his way to the ground bridge with the scraplets following him, while Laserbeak returned with Soundwave and Shockwave covered Stinger and Knock Out.

The 3 Decepticons walked slowly to the ground bridge at the moment that Breakdown came out the vortex.

"Breakdown, why in the name of the Allspark have you taken so long?" Starscream asked.

"Down! Get down!" He said before he fell into the snow.

The scraplets saw then and prepared to attack.

"Scraplets?!" Starscream yelled.

"Take cover!" Megatron said covering Airachnid and Starscream.

Just before the scraplets could reach them, they froze and bounced off of their armors. After that, they saw all the scraplets dead, scattered into the snow.

"Well, that explain what happened at base." Airachnid said.

"I'd invite you in, but the place is a mess." Breakdown said.

"Let's go all back inside." Megatron said as they helped Breakdown to go to the vortex.

"Wait, I just forget something." Starscream said before taking some snow in his hand.

A few minutes later, all of the Decepticons were beginning to recover from the Arctic and the scraplet infestation at the main hall.

"Here Raf, take your snowball." Starscream said as he handled the snow he took in the Arctic.

"Thanks Starscream." Raf said taking the snowball. "Oh, it's cold."

"Report bio-circuitry status." Shockwave requested.

"Levels are rising." Jack answered.

"Excellent. Rafael, keep a close watch on Stinger's electro pulse monitor. Miko, check Breakdown's interface patch." Shockwave instructed.

"It's steady." Raf reported.

"Looking good." Miko informed.

"Knock Out, what is the damage of the sub-zero temperature exposure of the affected?"

"I'm doing all I can, Shockwave. By now they are all stable." Knock Out reported looking the monitor despite his wounds.

"Perhaps you should get some rest yourself, old friend. You saved quite a few lives today." Megatron said.

"It wasn't all our doing. We're just fortunate that this infestation happened on a weekend." Shockwave said with a proud smile as he looked over at the kids.

"Our human friends may be small, but they are strong." Megatron declared.

Then Miko screamed at the top of her lungs as Raf and Jack got into fighting positions.

"Scraplet?!" Jack asked.

"SPIDER! Is it on me?!" Miko yelled and ran out of the room leaving the Decepticons and the kids confused.

"Did she just scream like a little girl?" Breakdown asked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight- Siblings**

It was a peaceful day at the Decepticon base. Everyone was inside the main hall, except Breakdown who was walking in with Miko on his shoulders.

"All right, chores are done. Now can we do some dune bashing?" Miko asked.

"I don't know Miko. Last time I spent a week picking sand out of my articulators." Breakdown said, but he noticed Miko drooped her face a little disappointed. "But there's a monster truck rally in town."

Then everyone gathered around Soundwave, maybe because he was discovered something.

"Lord Megatron, I'm receiving a signal of a restricted band! It appears to be coming from a starship entering this solar system." Soundwave said.

"Can you identify who it belongs to?" Shockwave asked.

Soundwave continued to type on the computer, and when he finished, he couldn't believe it. "Signal confirmed; it's a Decepticon identification beacon."

"So, there are other Cons out there?" Jack asked.

"The masses scattered to the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark." Airachnid said.

"But not all of them are hopes, because Bots have been known to bait traps with false beacons." Knock Out added.

"Unknown vessel, this is Decepticon Outpost Alpha One. Identify yourself." Megatron said to the ship.

"I've had warmer welcomes from Autobot combat brigades." The voice said through the com-link. By the voice, the newcomer seemed to be a girl.

"Slipstream?!" Starscream said very surprised for one reason, he knew that voice. "Ha, you old Sky Beauty! What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Starscream? That's you?! What's with all the security?" The Decepticon known as Slipstream said excited.

"The rock we're on is crawling with Bots. How long can you get here and even the odds?" Starscream asked.

"Sometime tomorrow…if I put metal to the pedal." She responded.

"Another Con is coming here! How cool is that?" Miko said with excitement as Breakdown nodded.

"Slipstream…I know her by reputation only. Can you verify her voice print?" Megatron said.

"She is one thousand percent the real deal, my liege." Starscream answered.

"We will send landing coordinates, Slipstream. Safe journey." Megatron bided.

"See you soon, sis! I will make sure you get a proper welcome!" Starscream promised.

"You sure will." She said before hung up.

"So, who is that? Your girlfriend?" Airachnid asked walking up to Starscream.

"Oh, no. In reality she is my sister." He responded.

"What?!" Miko said impressed.

"Do you have a sister?" Raf asked interested.

"Not only one, Slipstream is a member of my big family. I still remember all of them: Thundercracker, Skywarp, Slipstream, Sunstorm, Acidstorm, Hydrostorm, Red Wing… Me and my siblings were the founders of the main Decepticon air combat unit: the Seekers. The Autobots worst nightmare coming from the heights." Starscream explained to them.

But they weren't the only ones who catch the transmission. Inside the Ark, Blaster intercepted the conversation and showed it to the other Autobots with a hologram of the new Decepticon.

"A war heroine, huh?" Grimlock said.

"This gives us an opportunity that should not be missed. A chance to discover the enemy's hidden base location." Bee deduced.

"But for that we shall require an infiltrator." Bulkhead remembered

"We already have the perfect Bot, but we need some tech help. Cliffjumper, go to my laboratory and bring here the experimental shifter material. And hurry!" Ratchet shouted. "Stardust, come here! We have a mission for you."

A strange Autobot was coming from the shadows, by its appearance it was a female, and a flier. Moments later, Cliffjumper returned with some materials on his hands.

"Here you have, doctor." Cliff said.

"Hurry, we haven't much time." Ratchet grabbed his instruments, made some things on the materials and put them on the strange Autobot. "Okay Blaster, proceed."

Blaster stuck out one of his tentacles and punctured the Bot. Then the shifter technology began to change the Autobot into another cybertronian.

"We too know how to prepare a proper welcome." Grimlock said with an evil smile.

At the next morning, everyone was seeing on the main screen how long until Slipstream arrived to Earth.

"Slipstream's ship is approaching the landing zone." Airachnid said.

Miko gasped with excitement as they all watched the signal to Slipstream's ship move to the landing point.

"You think she's here to visit?" Raf asked.

"Maybe she'll stay! Hum, have to find her own human though." Miko said.

They heard a clicking sound coming from the ground bridge controls, which were being fixed by Shockwave. It appears that he had finished.

"Okay, ground bridge cycling up." He said, but then electricity cackled from the control system, so he slammed his fist into the lever and the screen for the ground bridge appeared. "Blasted scraplets. The equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation." Shockwave grumbled.

"So Slipstream's gonna land halfway around the world and then you'll bridge her here?" Jack asked.

"We can't risk revealing the location of our base. Just in case the Autobots are tracking Slipstream's ship." Megatron explained.

Meanwhile, Starscream was walking back and forth anxiously.

"Woau, I've never seen Starscream so stoked!" Miko said.

"Me neither, Miko." Breakdown added.

"You're gonna love Slipstream. Of all my siblings, she was the one most like me. And tonight, when she is with us, we're gonna party!" Starscream shouted.

"A party authorized by Starscream? Sweet!" Miko expressed.

Then, a loud beeping noise alerted everyone about bad news showed at the screen.

"Bogies! Coming close to Slipstream's position!" Soundwave informed.

"Autobot scum!" Breakdown said.

Slipstream's ship was flying above a desert when six Aerobots pursued her and began firing. She evaded the blast until one got a luck shot. The ship crashed lands in the middle of the desert. The Aerobots transformed and prepared to check out the site, but then a missile came from the smoke, killing one of the Bots. Just at the moment Slipstream emerged from the smoke and shot a laser to another to catch their attention, making them pulled out their weapons. Her appearance was similar to Starscream but in pink, so she was indeed a girl.

"You're trying to ruin my day? Well, you're gonna have to try harder." She said.

They opened fire at her. Slipstream evaded it lightly and used her propeller of her back to jump and land on a Bot, killing him in the process. Another one grabs for her, but the Seeker grabbed his arm first and threw him over her shoulders. She managed to knocked out almost all them with martial arts, then she did a twirl jump and ripped the Aerobot's arm off and used it to fight other Bot. Then only one Bot remained alive.

"You Bots have gone soft on me." She said pulling out electrified whips from her hands and came for the Bot.

Inside the Ark, the Autobots were watching the fight.

"Swiftly, before the Decepticons arrive!" Ratchet said to Blaster.

At the Decepticon base, Breakdown, Airachnid, Stinger and Starscream waited in front of the ground bridge chamber.

"Open the bridge, Knock Out. We're missing all the action!" Breakdown said.

"I'll prepare sick bay." Knock Out said.

"Ha, who for? The Bots? This is Slipstream we're talking about." Starscream scoffed in disbelief before running into the portal with the other Cons.

They all arrived at the fight scene and were ready to attack. But they were in total shock as they saw the Bots dead. Slipstream eliminated the last Bot with a great martial art, tearing off his head.

"Hehe, she taught me that." Starscream said with a smile.

"Ever think I may need a hand here?" Slipstream said walking towards them.

"What? And spoil the show?" Breakdown scoffed.

"You missed one." Airachnid said.

A living Aerobot tried to get up, but Slipstream shot a missile at him without looking at him.

"If this is all you got, the planet is in more trouble than I thought." Slipstream said.

Then Starscream grinned as he ran up to Slipstream and hugged her. "Sister! How glad I am to see you!"

"Me too! It really has been a long time." She responded as he hugged him back.

Everyone was shocked at the sight, but still thought of it as adorable.

"Come on. Let's go back to base. I cannot wait to show you our home." Starscream said breaking the hug.

They all ran through the open ground bridge and came back to base. Then the bridge began to malfunction.

"Soundwave, turn it off!" Shockwave ordered. "We better take a look for it and make sure everything is fine before using it again."

"Affirmative." Soundwave answered.

"You maybe know about all my Decepticon comrades, but let me introduce you to our new allies: Jack, Raf and Miko. They had proved been very useful against the Autobots." Starscream introduced.

"Hiya." The children said.

"You are keeping my brother out of trouble?" Slipstream said to them.

"We help the best we can." Jack answered.

"But trouble finds him anyway." Miko said.

"Something tells me that you and I were gonna get along just fine." Slipstream said to Miko before turning over at Megatron. "Lord Megatron. It's a privilege to meet you in person."

"Likewise soldier. What have you to report from your long journey?" Megatron said.

"Been bouncing from rock to rock searching for signs of friend or foe. And now I find both."

"We are few, but strong. We have suffered losses, but we have grown. And we would relish welcoming a new member into our fold." Megatron said with a smile.

"I would be honored." She responded.

"Then let's get this party started!" Starscream proclaimed.

"Seeker style!" Slipstream added as he and Starscream did a wing bump.

"I'm not going to like this." Shockwave said to himself.

Meanwhile inside the Ark, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Grimlock were walking down a corridor as they analyzed what happened.

"The moment Stardust passed through their ground bridge we lost her tracking signal." Bumblebee announced.

"The Decepticon base is no doubt heavily shielded to prevent us from locating it." Grimlock said upset.

"No matter, I have complete faith in Stardust. Our inside girl is already inside." Ratchet said proudly.

The 3 Autobots entered to a brig guarded by two Autobot guardians ( **the guardians of Fall of Cybertron** ), the door opened revealing another Slipstream hanging from cybertronian chains. She lifted her head as she saw the Autobots walked up to her.

"Tell Prime he's fragged in the head if he thinks that Starscream won't sniff out an impostor." Slipstream spat out.

"Haven't you heard? I lead the Autobots now." Grimlock said.

"You? A Dinobot? Ha!" She scoffed.

Grimlock growled in anger. He raised his hand and was about to punch Slipstream, but someone grabbed his arm at the moment.

"Grimlock wait! She maybe yet of use!" Bumblebee said as he held back his arm.

"Grrr, right." Grimlock admitted.

"There is no need to worry, Grimlock. You must know, my dear, that this mission will be successful by these conditions. One, the shifter technology which I had worked it's coming from the remains of your best impostor: Makeshift." Ratchet explained.

"You caught him?" She asked surprised.

"And now his remains are being well used." Bee added.

"Second, the Autobot chosen for this task has a perfect compatibility for the subject to shifter: you. And of course she can deal with Megatron's second in command because she knows everything about him." Ratchet continued.

"Wait! She? Don't tell me is her." Slipstream said worried.

"Exactly, my dear. With all those elements she will be an expert at keeping up appearances. She need only fool your friends long enough to open their ground bridge from within so that we finally learn the location of the Decepticon base." Ratchet finished.

"And then I will go inside with my strike team to stain its floor with spilled energon of Megatron." Grimlock said with a smile.

At that night, Miko was playing her guitar inside the main hall. But she was not the only one who was enjoying the time.

"Come on, Slipstream. Show them what you got." Starscream said.

A giant metal ball was thrown across the room as the kids looked to see Breakdown catch it.

"Hahaha, nice lob." He complimented as he passed the ball to Knock Out.

"So what's that about?" Jack asked from the sidelines.

"It's called lobbing. A favorite pass time on Cybertron, especially among the warrior class." Airachnid explained.

"Come on, Raf. Show us some moves." Miko requested as she kept playing the guitar.

"Oh. Alright." Raf sighed as he stood up. He began to do some hand movements. Stinger was curious so he over to look closely at Raf.

Jack laughed to himself. "Of course, the robot."

After a few moments watching him, Stinger copied Raf's actions behind him.

Jack looked around and noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Megatron?"

"Went for a flight. He doesn't party." Airachnid answered.

"Coming to you!" Starscream said as he threw the metal ball at Slipstream. But she missed it and it crashed into the wall and fell onto the ground bridge controls after Soundwave dodged.

"You know, we were attempting to perform sensitive calibrations here!" Shockwave shouted in frustration.

"Sorry, professor. Guess we're a little charged up." Slipstream apologized as she grabbed the lobbing ball. She was walking with the others when she stopped and stood next to Shockwave. "You built this bridge from scratch?"

"Indeed, I did." Shockwave answered curtly.

"That's quite a feat of engineering." She remarked.

"Yes, it is." Shockwave agreed happily.

"Something wrong with it?" She asked curiously.

"I didn't care for the way it sounded the last jump. So we put it in shutdown." Shockwave explained.

"What if you need to use it?" She continued questioning.

"The defrag process can't be interrupted without causing irreparable damage." Soundwave added.

"So, how long will the defrag take?" She finally asked.

"A few hours if damage is not too serious." Soundwave said.

"Maybe longer." Shockwave added.

Slipstream then walked away with a smirk on her face. At the same time, in the Ark, Grimlock was losing his patience.

"Stardust still hasn't opened their ground bridge or otherwise transmitted their coordinates!" He shouted.

"Take it easy, Grimlock. I know that she will make it at the end." Ratchet announced.

"Her disguise maybe flawless, but she won't fool the Decepticons forever." Grimlock said.

Later on at base, Starscream was acting very differently from his way of being. Now he was telling a story about an adventure on Cybertron to the kids.

"So there we were. The Autobots were getting their transport ships out of Cybertron filled with troops, with intentions to spread their presence in the entire universe. And the only ones who could stop them was us. Only four Seekers against an entire fleet of Autobot transports ( **the penultimate mission of War for Cybertron** ). Do what does our girl do?" Starscream tell as the kids widened their eyes waiting for him to say what happened. "Tell them, Slipstream."

All eyes turned to Slipstream as she shifted uncomfortable. "Uh, what I saw right."

They all turned back to Starscream who chuckled. "She came with the idea of launching a few missiles against the first transport, destroying its engines, making it fall and crushed against the following transports."

"Yeah. Seemed like the best way of causing the large number of casualties." She added.

"The space became an entire fire chaos." Starscream gushed.

"Awesome!" Miko said with excitement.

"It's impressive that you guys got out of there without damage." Jack added.

"Well, I'm still picking shrapnel out of my wings." Starscream remarked as he scratched one of his wings.

"I'm not surprised. Given the length of your wings." Airachnid smirked teasingly, earning a hum in agreement from Stinger.

"( **Imagine what it should cost him to clean it.** )" Stinger added.

Knock Out began to snicker, but Starscream ignore him. However, Slipstream seemed to be more aware of Soundwave and Shockwave repairing the ground bridge.

"There it is. Slipstream signature. One missile, best shot." Starscream said, but he looked over at his sister who was spacing out. "Hey, you alright?"

"What?" She said snapping out of her daze.

"You don't seem like yourself." Starscream observed.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You seem more…quiet." He pointed out.

"I've been stuck in a starship too much time. I should go topside before I go crazy." Slipstream decided.

"I know. I have air patrol in the morning. You can come with." Starscream offered her excitedly.

"Well, let's go now." She said.

"And break up the party? Come on, the gang's loving you!" Breakdown said.

"We've got to tell them about the Battle of the Space Station where we lived." Starscream said.

"You tell them. You're better at it. How about if Miko here shows me the rest of the base?" Slipstream suggested.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead, Miko." Starscream authorized with a nervous laugh.

"Tour, starts, now." Miko said as she got off of the crate she was sitting on. She walked towards Slipstream and they began to walk down the hall. "Do you play any instruments? How many brothers and sisters you have? Have you thrashed more Autobots than Starscream?"

As soon as they were out of site, Knock Out and Airachnid approached Starscream.

"You're alright?" Airachnid asked.

"Yeah, just out of sorts I guess." Starscream responded.

"Don't tell me you're jealous." Knock Out teased.

"That Miko's making a new friend? Don't be ridiculous! Something…something's just not right about Slipstream." Starscream finally voiced his suspicions aloud.

"Starscream, really? She's traveled galaxies. You haven't seen her for centuries. She could just be rocket lagged or… Well, Cons do change, you know?" Knock Out said.

"Not her." Starscream retorted stubbornly.

Meanwhile, the real Slipstream was still inside the Ark. She tried struggled free. The Autobot guardian went up to her and threatens her with his blaster.

"You're not going anywhere, Decepticon." The Autobot guardian said.

As soon as he turned around, Slipstream wrapped her legs around the guardian's neck, causing him to change his arms into plasma cannons and shot wildly.

"Is that any way to treat a lady?" She said making the guardian shoot the control panel, realizing her.

Before she was free she snapped the guardian's neck, killing him. At the same time inside the Decepticon base, Miko was showing the base's inside to the other Slipstream.

"So that's pretty much it. Energon stockpile, power generator, armory. Everything you need to blow the bunker sky high." Miko said.

"Where is this bunker located exactly?" She asked.

"If I told you, I'd have to rip out your spark chamber." Miko said, making the false Slipstream stared at her. "Kidding. Just outside Jasper, Nevada, though I don't expect that means much to you."

"Can't say it does. So is there any other way out here besides bridging?" Slipstream said.

"Why? You're not planning to leave already, are you?" Miko said worried. "Come on, I'll show you."

The two girls walked back to the main hall, when Shockwave and Soundwave were finishing with the ground bridge.

"The ground bridge is repaired to 90 percent." Soundwave announced.

"Almost there." Shockwave said with relieve.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team was talking with Starscream.

"Look, I know Slipstream better than anyone, and I know that something is wrong with her." Starscream boasted to the rest.

"Hey. What are you guys talking about?" Slipstream asked as she and Miko returned.

"He was telling us about him and you…at the Battle of that Space Station you mentioned before." Knock Out said trying to make conversation.

"That's a heck of a story." Slipstream remarked.

"Yeah. Tell it." Starscream demanded, making the room got tense.

"Talk, talk, talk! How about after we go off-roading?" Miko suggested with boredom.

"Miko, stay out of this!" Starscream warned.

"Starscream, easy." Airachnid cooed gently.

"I'm not sure I-." Slipstream started.

"Tell it!" Starscream repeated.

"Fine. You want to live in the past, Starscream." Slipstream finally relented while the kids looked at each other in confusion. "The Seekers were trapped with the Decepticons in the station's central command by a massive Autobot invasion force. The Bots were vicious, bearing down on us with a new power source guarded inside the station. So Megatron called a stellar cruiser to evacuate everyone because the station was fallen into the enemy hands. We had to say goodbye to our home ( **the first mission of War for Cybertron** ). Isn't that how it happened?"

"Yeah, that's exactly how it happened. Except for one little thing." Starscream said making the false Slipstream had a worried look on her face. "Megatron wasn't there."

"What?" Shockwave and Soundwave said looking at Starscream interested.

The impostor gritted her teeth as everyone looked her with worried and distrust.

"The Seekers were not part of the Decepticons yet when the Autobots attacked the space station, and Megatron came in the last moment with the cruiser to rescue us. But you wouldn't know that if all you did was access Slipstream's public service record." Starscream said as he pointed one of his claws at the impostor.

"Starscream, what does that have to do with…" Miko cannot end her phrase as she was picked by the impostor.

"Miko!" Breakdown yelled.

"Stay back or I'll squeeze her into pull." The impostor threatened holding Miko in her hand, talking with another voice with parts of her body changing to her original form, scaring and angering everyone in the room.

"Slipstream! What are you doing?" Miko demanded.

"That's not Slipstream. But I recognize that voice, from my past. It sounds familiar." Starscream said.

"Of course, my dear Starscream. After all, you and I were so close eons ago." The female Autobot said.

When all the shifter pieces were gone, it revealed an orange female Autobot flyer with an appearance similar to Starscream with little details differences, but with red eyes.

"Stardust. I should have known that it was you from the beginning." Starscream said with anger.

"Do you know her?" Airachnid asked interested.

"She is an ex-girlfriend." He answered.

"Sparkmate, that was really what we were before the war, remember?" Stardust added.

"Yeah, just before you turned to the wrong path."

"You still regret it, no Starscream? You were the most important thing in my spark, so that's why I proposed you to join the Autobots, so that we're still together. And I still want that."

"I chose my side for my own reasons. We cannot retrieve what we were, not now or never. So set free the human, now. Don't force us to take you down."

"I'm sorry my dear, but I have my orders, and this little friend here is my ticket to get out."

"Autobot coward! Let the girl go and face me!" Breakdown interrupted.

"Don't fret. Plenty of fighting to come." Stardust reassured.

"Is there a real Slipstream?" Jack asked worriedly.

"Oh indeed. And I expect King Grimlock is making sport of her, because she is the bigmouth who ruined everything." Stardust confessed.

At the topside of the Ark, Grimlock, Ratchet and Blaster, with a battalion of Autobot commandos ( **who turned into F1** ) were waiting for the moment to strike.

"Are you certain we are at the coordinates you supplied to Stardust?" Ratchet asked to Blaster, who nodded.

"Then what is taking her?" Grimlock shouted losing his patience.

"Maybe they gave your girl such a heroine's welcome, so she got the warm and decided to switch sides." Slipstream said approaching them.

"What? How in the Allspark she escaped?" Ratchet said surprised.

Grimlock laugh a little. "Do you not see that you are vastly outnumbered?"

"I see a couple of guys who might vastly enjoy watching me pound some dents into your face." Slipstream said pulling out her whips.

"Destroy her!" Grimlock ordered to the troops.

The battalion charged for the lone Seeker, who used the whips to deflect some shots back to the Autobots. At the same time inside the base, Stardust typed in the coordinates when the ground bridge became operational again.

"Just in time." She said as the ground bridge opened.

At the Ark, Slipstream was still deflecting the laser shots. Then Grimlock pulled out on his arm a nucleon shock cannon which fired against Slipstream. Fortunately she evaded the shot with style after beginning close combat with the Autobots commandos. Ratchet tried to fire at her with his lasers, but she evaded and kicked him before seeing the ground bridge vortex behind her.

"Well, well. Time to meet my double."

Stardust then backed away slowly towards the ground bridge with Miko struggling in her grasp.

"Okay, let's get this party started!" She said.

Then Slipstream came through the portal and kicked Stardust in the back. Stardust let go of Miko and she was sent flying, but fortunately Starscream caught her, while Stardust hit the wall and went out. The kids looked at Slipstream as she gets up.

"I'd shut that portal before the company comes through." Slipstream said.

In the other side of the portal, Grimlock saw that the ground bridge was still open.

"Enter the ground bridge, now!" He ordered.

But before the battalion could reach, it closed, so Grimlock roared in fury. But inside the base…

"I hope not have come at a bad time, but I see you caught in full relationship discussion." Slipstream said looking at Stardust.

"You! It seems that the Ark was too boring for you." Stardust said angered.

"What can I say? Is better meeting with some old known one, especially one who tries to destroy a family." Slipstream said looking at Stardust.

"Well, you're not going to mess this like you mess my relationship with Starscream!" Stardust said before shooting a missile at Slipstream, but she evaded it very easily.

"Wait a moment. If you want to finish that discussion between us of long ago, I said we finish it right now, by the right way." Slipstream said pulling out her whips.

"Okay. I will enjoy taking your spark." Stardust said changing her hands into swords.

The two female flyers began to circling around, getting ready to fight. Breakdown smashed his fists together as he was about to step in.

"No Breakdown, let her do it. They began this a long time ago, and they didn't finish it." Starscream said pulling at hand in front of him.

Then the two began to clash with their weapons, trying to take each other down. They even used their propellers to take air advantage.

"Which one is the real Slipstream?" Raf asked.

"I lost track!" Miko said trying to see it.

"Easy, Slipstream is the one who Starscream will never attack." Knock Out deduced.

There was a moment when Stardust saw an opening and changed to her blasters, but Slipstream's training allowed her to evade the shots and kicked her opponent down. She managed to grab Stardust with her whips and immobilized her with electricity and put a foot on her, winning the fight.

"That's my girl." Starscream boasted proudly.

"You, open the portal! It's time to take out the garbage." Slipstream said to Soundwave, who nodded in response. "It's all yours, big guy." She said to Breakdown.

The ground bridge opened in the Ark's topside, and Grimlock saw that.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" He shouted.

Breakdown grabbed Stardust, spun in circles and threw her in the vortex as hard as he could. When the Autobot battalion was almost though when they saw Stardust coming at them. They retreated and Stardust hit them and landed on Grimlock.

"Nice lob, buddy." Knock Out said.

The vortex closed again.

"Please tell me you at least learned the location of their base." Ratchet said.

"Indeed. It is in a bunker, just outside of…" Stardust began.

But before she could finish her report, Grimlock looked something at her that made him grab Ratchet and Blaster.

"Grimlock! What are you doing?" Ratchet asked in confusion.

"Back, back, fall back!" He said throwing them to the other side of the ship and running in his T-Rex form.

Stardust found this strange, until she heard a weird noise coming from her right wing, only to the see a missile triggered. "Curse you, Slipstream." She said before the missile exploded, killing her and all the battalion.

Ratchet and Blaster got up at the other side of the ship and got shocked when they saw the explosion, right when Grimlock meet with them.

"Stardust, you fool!" Grimlock shouted, roaring loud in his T-Rex form.

At the next day, Miko was playing her guitar while Jack, Raf and Stinger were all dancing, with Airachnid watching them, while the rest of the team were reunited on the other side of the hall.

"The habit of each day." Shockwave said looking at them.

"Al least they have given this place a lot of life. Things were more boring and quiet before they went in." Soundwave added.

"Yes, you have a logical point there." Shockwave answered.

"Now that you're part of our team, we need to pick out a vehicle mode for you." Breakdown said.

"I have some ideas." Knock Out added.

"Uh, about that guys. Now that my ship's repaired, I'm itching to know what else I might find out there." Slipstream confessed.

"Wait! You're leaving?" Miko exclaimed in disbelief.

"Why?"Raf asked.

Slipstream looked at them with sad eyes. Starscream chuckled as she looked at him. "Because some Cons never change." He responded with a laugh.

"Slipstream, know that you always have a haven here." Megatron beamed at her.

"Maybe she not stays here, but I know she will come back." Starscream said as he and his sister did a wing bump.

Later, everyone except Megatron, Shockwave and Soundwave ground bridge to the place where Slipstream landed.

"Slipstream, before you go, I want to give you something." Starscream said as he showed a hologram of an F-15 Eagle. "This is in case you ever need your wings again."

"Thanks brother." Slipstream scanned it and assimilated her new vehicle mode. "Hey, why do you not come with me? Like the old times, flying wherever we want. Who knows what we might find out there? Maybe some of our living family members."

Starscream though it was a good idea, but he looked back to everyone and not only the kids seemed to will be affected if he left.

"Sounds like fun, sister. But my tires are here now. Besides Megatron, as his second in command. With them." Starscream said looking at the group, of which only the kids seemed to be the most happiest.

"I counting of you to watch his back. If anything happens to my favorite sibling, I'm coming after you three." Slipstream said to the kids.

"Don't worry." Jack said.

"We'll help him to not get into trouble." Raf said.

"Now, say cheese." Miko said as she took a picture of Slipstream and Starscream.

Slipstream got onto her ship and everyone waved goodbye as she took off.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine- Pirate Chase**

It was a nice day at the Decepticon base, until someone called in.

"Megatron! Are you there?!"

"Special agent Silas. To what do we owe-?" Megatron began to ask.

"What else? The Bots! I chased them off with some hard ordinates! But not before they blew me out of the sky!" Silas explained to them.

"Again?" Miko teased.

"They tried to smash and grab for the DINGUS." Silas continued.

"The what's it?" Airachnid repeated in confusion.

"Dynamic Nuclear Generation System A.K.A. DINGUS. It's a prototype energy source I'm transporting to the coast for testing." Silas said as he showed a picture of a metal box.

"That's absurd! Why would Grimlock bother with such primitive technology?" Starscream asked after he scoffed.

"I'm guessing to make a big bad primitive weapon of mass destruction. If this artifact were to meltdown, it would irradiate this state and the four next door." Silas said.

"Uh…Did agent Silas say what state he was currently in?" Raf suddenly asked nervously.

"I'm stuck here, Megatron. I need you to spin up a bridge and send the DINGUS through to its destination before the Bots come back for it!" Silas demanded.

"I'm afraid that sending such a volatile device through a ground bridge is out of the question." Megatron said.

"If there were to be an accident during its transmission, the radiation could propagate through the vortex and harm all 50 states and beyond." Soundwave explained.

"You got any better ideas?" Silas asked.

"Lord Megatron, I think I have a logical alternative." Shockwave began.

Later, Knock Out, Stinger, Breakdown and Shockwave were all in their vehicle modes because they decided to escort the DINGUS to its destiny. It was contained in a trailer grabbed to Shockwave, and Silas was inside of him. He rubbed his hands with excitement as he put them on Shockwave's wheel.

"Ah-no need agent Silas. I will handle the driving." Shockwave said.

"It's going to be a long trip." Silas grumbled.

"Lord Megatron, we're ready." Shockwave said.

"Okay Shockwave. Proceed." Megatron said through the com-link.

"Decepticons, let's go!" Shockwave ordered.

All the Decepticons began driving following Shockwave's lead. Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave were still at base with the children.

"We are locked onto your coordinates, Shockwave." Starscream said monitoring with Soundwave.

"Without any complications you should reach the drop-off point by sundown." Megatron said.

Then an old, rusted car blocked their path, so Silas pushed the bottom of the horn several times.

"Come on! Move it now!" Silas said.

At the end the car pulled over, allowing them to pass.

"Agent Silas, I don't think that is a logical action." Shockwave said.

"Aw, don't tell me you are one of those textbook drivers." Silas said.

What they didn't notice was that high in the skies a blue and white strange vehicle with yellow touches: some kind of combination of a cybertronian helicopter and a cybertronian jet, was following them, escort by a squadron of green cybertronian flyers, a blue and silver McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II and a black and yellow cybertronian Pteranodon.

"Sir, they're transporting in some kind of advanced tank." A voice said from inside the plane.

"Send in the ground units." Another mysterious voice said coming from the strange vehicle.

The air vehicles and the pterosaur continued following the Decepticons.

"You know, you guys are saving my back here." Silas said.

"Help others is what Decepticons are supposed to do." Shockwave answered humbly.

"Of course, not like I need you help if you and the Bots stop tearing up your own corner of the universe." Silas said.

"Are you suggesting that no evil existed on your world before we arrived?" Megatron asked through the com-link.

"No, it was a different kind of evil. So, want some radio?" Silas asked before noticed that something was following them on the air. He looked at the outside and saw the strange vehicle. "That's the one. The Bot who shot me down! Do you know who is he?"

"Watch your rear views." Knock Out warned through the com-link.

Then four green cars drove next to Breakdown and boxed him in.

"I'm feeling constricted without the use of my fists here, boss." Breakdown said.

"Remain in vehicular mode unless absolutely necessary." Megatron said.

The cars began to approach Shockwave.

"A whole team of Bots." Silas observed.

"What? We're not picking up anything." Starscream said at the base.

"They must be using cloaking technology." Soundwave theorized.

One of the cars drove in front of Stinger and blocked him while another car drove next to Shockwave followed by another. Then the first car transformed into a cybertronian soldier similar to the Autobot troopers, but in green, who landed on the second car.

"Pull over, fleshling!" The trooper warned changing his arm into a laser weapon.

"I know it." Silas grumbled.

"Lord Megatron, our assailants are not Autobots, but they are cybertronians." Shockwave reported.

"What?" All say.

"They are bots, but not the Bots of always?" Miko questioned.

The strange cybertronian vehicle was looking at the scene.

"Warriors, stop their engines." The vehicle ordered.

The trooper was about to shoot, but Shockwave hit him with his cannon and pushed the car away.

"Who are these Bots?" Silas asked.

"Lord Megatron, what do you recommend to do in this situation?" Shockwave asked.

"Decepticons, maintain your cover, but disable all those enemies. Shockwave, you know what to do." Megatron said.

"Understood. Silas, use the cannon. Cover me." Shockwave said.

"Finally something to handle." Silas said with a smile as he put in the gunner's position.

Silas began to fire at the new enemies with Shockwave's cannon, but one of them tried to stop them as well. Fortunately Knock Out showed his weapon in his car mode and eliminated him.

"Sir, these are not civilian drivers. And certainly not normal Earth vehicles." The Pteranodon said.

The Decepticons started driving up a curvy road. Silas was still using Shockwave's cannon, but he saw a soldier that jumped onto the bolts.

"Shockwave, we have one on the connecting bolts of the trailer! Bare right!" Silas said.

Shockwave tried to take him out, but the trooper held tight and hid behind the trailer and began to cut the bolts.

"I can't get a clear shot on that Bot!" Silas communicated.

"Stinger, go and stop that one." Shockwave ordered.

Stinger transformed and landed on Shockwave, jumped to the trailer and grabbed the trooper.

"( **You're going to tell everything I need to …** )" Stinger said, but a tree branch whacked the trooper out of Stinger's hand, so he returned to driving.

"So it's true, they are here. And they have already allied with the natives. How predictable the Decepticons are." The same voice said from the mysterious vehicle.

"( **Shockwave, I have notice something strange of that cybertronian. He carried a strange emblem, but it's not of the Decepticons or Autobots.** )" Stinger informed.

"We will ask Soundwave to analyze that later; right now we must focus on the mission." Shockwave concluded.

Silas returned back to the driver' seat when he received a static from his walkie-talkie.

"I do hope you better take care of the DINGUS then that robot does with his captives." A voice said through the walkie-talkie.

"Special agent Silas here. Identify yourself!"

"I am Thundertron!"

"The leader of the Star Seekers." Shockwave said surprised.

"Fair warning. We will be helping ourselves to your device. Even if that means inflicting casualties." Thundertron warned.

"Lord Megatron, we have a problem. We already know who our attackers are, they are leaded by Thundertron." Shockwave reported to base.

"What?!" Starscream shouted.

"Who is Thundertron?" Raf asked.

"The leader of a group of cybertronians called the Star Seekers. It is composed by renegade Autobots and Decepticons. Thundertron was an ancient fighter who decided to not take a side in the war for Cybertron, but when our planet fell into darkness, he was full of fury and decides to take revenge for our planet's death." Megatron explained.

"The Star Seekers are known for their habits of attack other cybertronian ships, kill all one who don't belong to their side and take all their properties for themselves!" Starscream said.

"Pirates." Jack realized.

"Is that so?" Silas said, sign that he listened all said inside the base. "So tell me, Thunder. What they plan to do with that pirates like you?"

"Guess that yourself. We already know that the cybertronian war has come to this world, and we're going to put our role inside, like we always do." Thundertron responded.

A Star Seeker trooper was driving behind Shockwave's trailer and fired where the bars kept the trailer closed, destroying it and making the roller door opened willingly. He then transformed and ran to the trailer to attempt to jump in and grab the DINGUS.

"So captain, you think the Decepticons are the same as you remember?" Silas said.

Just as the Star Seeker was about to jump, a few shots came from the trailer and killed him. Then Airachnid jumped out the trailer and landed on one of the other Star Seekers. She used her claws to knock out the trooper before turning into a helicopter and get clear before the pirates exploded.

"Certainly those Cons are not normal soldiers." The other jet said.

"Don't copy my deductions, Axer." The Pteranodon said.

"Retreat now that you have the chance, Thunder. That's my advice." Silas said before turning off the walkie-talkie.

"Agent Silas, do not take Thundertron's words lightly. His thirst of revenge has caused the loss of many Autobots and Decepticons, some of them good warriors." Megatron said through the com-link.

"He is a cold-sparked murderer." Shockwave added.

"Shockwave, prepare to initiate phase two. Five miles ahead to the south, you will reach the rendezvous point." Soundwave informed.

Unfortunately, the transmission was caught by Blaster, and he showed it to the Ark's main commander.

"So the Decepticons are outside the confines of their base. And are otherwise engaged, which means they will never see us coming. Find them and scrap them!" Grimlock ordered to a group of Autobot air heavy soldiers ( **which can turn into F-22 Raptor** ).

"Yes, King Grimlock." They chorused.

Grimlock grinned now that he was officially in charge. Meanwhile, right on schedule the train was right beside the Decepticons.

"There's the destination point." Silas said.

As the turned the corner of the mountains, the train was going towards a tunnel.

"Decepticons, keep a tight formation." Shockwave ordered.

Airachnid flew down beside the train, followed by Shockwave, Stinger, Knock Out and Breakdown.

"Ground units, follow them!" Thundertron ordered.

The remaining Star Seeker troopers pursued them without pause. Then Breakdown pulled out a turret from his vehicle form and fired two missiles for blockade the tunnel's entrance. After that he reunited with the others next to the train. Stinger transformed and jumped on the train and he knocked on the side.

"Tactical error. Only one way out. Brimstone, tell the troops to follow us by transport ships ready to launch an assault." Thundertron ordered.

"Yes, captain." The Pteranodon said.

The Decepticons drove out of the tunnel and onto the road again. But what they and Thundertron weren't expecting was eight dark red F-22 planes approaching.

"Air support? Ours of theirs?" Silas asked.

"Shockwave, you have company." Starscream said through the com-link.

"Soundwave, bridge us with them now. Starscream, stay here and keep an eye of everything." Megatron said before he and Soundwave transformed and flew into the ground bridge.

Then the entire squadron fired a lot of missiles at the Decepticons. Fortunately, Soundwave and Megatron came into the area and fired at the missiles, but they weren't fast enough to destroy all of them.

"They're attacking to their own units?" Axer questioned.

"No, those are certainly Autobots." Brimstone deduced.

A few missiles were getting closer, so Shockwave detached the trailer and the missiles destroyed it.

"Captain! The DINGUS!" Axer exclaimed.

"Wait! I'm not reading any radiation. The DINGUS didn't meltdown." Brimstone analyzed.

"It seems that." Thundertron added.

The heavy Aerobots cornered the Decepticons to a cliff; they transformed and landed in front of them. At the same moment, Megatron and Soundwave reunited with the team.

"Decepticons, get ready to fight! It is not necessary to be in disguise anymore, here we all are cybertronians." Megatron said as all the Decepticons returned to their robot forms. Silas was on Shockwave's hand.

Meanwhile Thundertron, Axer and Brimstone were still flying above them.

"So we were right. The cybertronian war has come to this world. And so us." Thundertron said.

The Decepticons got ready to fight.

"Remain here." Shockwave said, putting Silas on a nearby rock.

"Will do." He responded.

"After a long road trip it feels good to get out of the car, stretch my legs, and kick some tailpipe!" Breakdown said smashing his fist.

"But Megatron, what about the newcomers?" Knock Out remembered.

"The Star Seekers can wait. Right now the Autobots are the most dangerous menace." Megatron announced.

The Decepticon team charged against the Autobots, same as them, and the fight began. Megatron started by punching one down hard to the ground, Breakdown smashed one completely with his hammer, Airachnid used her spider legs to have two Autobots on constant guard, Shockwave used his cannon to block and counterattack another one, Soundwave was blocking his adversary's attacks with his arms and surprising him with his tentacles, Knock Out used his electric staff against other Autobot and Stinger dodged other Autobot as he began to use some boxing moves.

"Sir, if the DINGUS wasn't in the trailer…" Brimstone began.

"Right. Special agent Silas, you lead a charmed life walking among titans." Thundertron said.

"If you want to meet them better, come down here and I will introduce you." Silas said.

"No thanks. Right now, I'm too busy wondering how the DINGUS might have vanished into thin air. Without a trace." Thundertron remarked.

A flashback showed that after Stinger knocked on the door, a soldier opened the door and looked up to see Stinger. Then Shockwave's trailer opened completely. Next, Knock Out handed the DINGUS to Breakdown, and he passed it to Stinger, who put it inside the train, just before getting out the tunnel.

"Now, if you excuse me, I have a train to catch." Thundertron said as he and his comrades left to the trail tracks, something that Silas noticed. He saw a big cybertronian ship ( **Autobot transport ships from Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark** ) following them.

"Megatron! Thundertron has discovered phase 2!" Silas said through the walkie-talkie.

"Understood!" Megatron said.

But then one of the Autobots took the opportunity and smashed Megatron's head with a tree trunk. He fell down the cliff hitting the rocks and landed at the base of the cliff, unconscious.

"Megatron! Do you read me? Megatron!" Silas yelled into the radio.

The Cons were still busy with the Bots to notice what happened to Megatron. The only ones who noticed that were Jack, Miko, Raf and Starscream.

"Megatron is down!" Miko yelled worried.

"The Star Seekers are going to grab the DINGUS! We need to think of something quick!" Jack said.

"You mean like a phase three?" Raf guessed.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Starscream asked.

"Ok. Come on, think. Alright, if Thundertron wants the DINGUS, he'll send his troops to get on that train." Jack deduced.

"What if we get on board first? You know, run some human-on-pirate bot interference?" Miko piped.

"What?! Absolutely not!" Starscream objected.

"Yeah, that would be a suicide." Jack agreed with Starscream.

"Hello! The United States of Meltdown! Lives are at stake!" Miko reminded them.

"Yes, yours! You not only want to engage against dangerous cybertronians, also want me to bridge you into a confined space, one travelling at 90 miles per hour? I can't even imagine the number of ways that could go wrong! Mass displacement trauma! Twisted limbs! Metal burn!" Starscream said, but the children looked him in total confusion. "Well, maybe not the last one. Regardless, it is nearly impossible, even for Soundwave to fix ground bridge coordinates on something moving at that speed!"

"Would it help if we had access to the train's coordinates?" Raf asked as he typed into his laptop and make appeared the train's position on the screen.

"Well, that maybe works. However, there's still the problem of you engaging the Star Seekers alone. How do you plan to combat them?" Starscream asked.

"We will think about something when we reach there. Now the most important thing is to secure the DINGUS before they grab it." Jack said, which enough answer was for Starscream.

Meanwhile, the soldier stood on high alert as he waited for anyone to attack. But he didn't know that the Star Seekers were flying over the train.

"Brimstone, immobilize it." Thundertron ordered.

The pterosaur landed on the train and launched a couple of missiles of his wings that released electricity through the train. That paralyzed the soldier and made him fall down from shock.

"Okay soldiers, cover us from above, the rest of you prepare for boarding. Axer, come down here and help me open this canister!" Brimstone shouted.

"Okay, coming in." Axer said.

The plane landed on the train and transformed the same as the Pteranodon. Axer had an appearance of a flier, similar to a Seeker, and Brimstone seemed like some parts of his body were the pterosaur's parts, with the wings on his shoulders. Then Axer changed his hand into a driller and began to make a hole on the train, while from the transport ship a dozen of Star Seeker troopers were preparing to land on the train's roof. At the same moment, Miko and Jack flew out of the ground bridge.

"We're in." Jack spoke into the phone.

"I read you, Jack. The cell phone com-link patch works." Raf said from the other side.

The kids opened the carriage door and saw the Star Seekers transport ship preparing to launch the troops.

"Raf, the Star Seekers are landing on top of the train." Jack said.

"In about 20 seconds, you're gonna come up to a fork. Brace yourselves." Raf warned them as he typed in various commands.

As the ship was ready for launch the troops, the train went off onto a different track. The ship got away from a moment, and Axer and Brimstone were nearly close to fall of the train, but they manage to stand firm.

"What happened?" Axer immediately asked.

"Hacker." Brimstone answered before correcting something in the terminal of his arm. "Former hacker."

Then on the base main screen, an image of a bomb appeared.

"What?" Raf said.

When the bomb exploded a lot of sparks came from Raf's laptop, getting it fried.

"Aw, Shockwave was right about what he have been thinking all along about Earth technology." Starscream boasted.

This time the ship was able to launch all the troops to the train. The troops spread over the roof, securing the train. The kids saw them and heard the noise of something making a hole.

"So what that buy us?! Ten seconds?" Jack said.

"Raf is losing his touch." Miko said.

The Decepticons still had not finished the fight, but Megatron slowly regain conscious as he slowly got up. Then he looked over at the tracks and saw the Star Seekers on top of the train. He changed to his jet form and flew towards them. The kids looked the hole, almost finished. Miko decided to pick up an axe from the wall, and Jack grabbed the fire extinguisher. When the hole was big enough, the drill disappeared and the two Star Seekers appeared before them.

"You want a slice of this? Well, do ya?" Miko challenged.

"What she said!" Jack exclaimed as he pointed the fire extinguisher at them.

The two robots looked each other and began laughing.

"Can you believe what they have said?" Axer said laughing.

"What makes you believe that you can stand against us?" Brimstone asked to them.

"Yeah, be good kids and get back home. This is not a game." Axer added.

"We know it." Jack said.

"Bring it, clankers." Miko provoked.

"What did you call us?!" Axer asked angrily.

Meanwhile the two officers were occupied with the kids, a few shoots eliminated all the Star Seekers flyers. Thundertron saw Megatron coming and shooting at them.

"Okay, it seems that we will have to teach you a lesson." Axer said pulling out his drill.

"Everyone, retreat!" Thundertron ordered.

The troops returned to the ship and Axer and Brimstone transformed and reunited with Thundertron.

"Have you seen that? One of them is a flying dinosaur!" Miko said excided.

"Huh, pterosaur, Miko. Dinosaurs didn't fly." Jack corrected.

"Anyway, we're pretty fierce." Miko said.

The Star Seekers put themselves ahead of the train.

"If the DINGUS's not for us, it will not be for anyone." Thundertron said as he launched a couple of missiles.

Miko and Jack watched helplessly as the missiles impacted on the tracks. That area was destroyed in a large column of smoke, rock, dirt and metal. After that they left.

"Whoa! Starscream, Thundertron has blown the train tracks. You need to bridge us out of here! The soldiers too!" Jack spoke to the phone desperately.

"We've lost access to the train data! I can't bridge you back without your coordinates!" Starscream told them gravely before contacting Megatron for help. "Lord Megatron! Jack and Miko are on that train and Thundertron has blown the tracks!"

"I'm on my way. Maximum overdrive!" Megatron said as he speeded up.

"Maybe we should jump?" Miko suggested.

"At 90 miles an hour?" Jack exclaimed in disbelief.

"Is the impact or the meltdown, take your pick." Miko said.

"What were we thinking volunteering for this?" Jack moaned.

"Next time, you need to do a better job of taking us out of these situations." Miko defended.

"Next time." Jack said sadly.

"We can buy ourselves another few seconds if we are in the back of the train, right?" Miko suggested.

"Miko, at least we're in this together." Jack shrugged.

Miko looked at Jack for a moment before she snatched his phone from him. "Raf, this is important! Make sure Breakdown gets my guitar!"

Then they looked outside to see Megatron flying at the front of the train.

"Don't read the will just yet." Jack said cheerful.

Back with the Decepticons, they managed to finish with the last Autobot.

"Where is Megatron?" Airachnid asked.

"He had a train to catch." Silas said looking through his binoculars.

When Megatron reached to the front of the train, he transformed and grabbed the train trying to slow the train down. The kids inside grabbed on to what they could as Megatron was struggling to stop the train. The train slowed down to a stop as it came near the blown up track. After that, Megatron walked over to where Jack and Miko were. She waved hello as Jack was completely relieved. Then he looked up to see Thundertron transforming at the ship's top. His appearance was very similar to a pirate captain, with beard too. But like the Autobots he and the other Star Seekers had red eyes.

"Well played, Megatron. But the Star Seekers have not said our last word. And I swear that I have a lot of plans in my vengeance quest, for all of you and your little friends. Crew, lets return to the Tidal Wave." Thundertron said as he transformed and departed back to his ship with his followers behind him.

"Lord Megatron, are you and the children intact?" Starscream asked through the com-link.

"Intact, Starscream. Crisis adverted. But the world which we live in is more in danger than we though. There is more of Cybertron that have followed us here, we must be very alert." Megatron proclaimed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten- Relics from the Past**

Miko was at school, inside history class. But the fact that Jack and Raf were not there could only mean one thing.

"Detention, aw." Miko said bored.

But then she smiled looking out the window to see Breakdown parked outside, waiting for pick her up. She noticed the teacher was too busy reading the newspaper, so she snuck out of the school. Breakdown was listening rock music and singing along when Miko got inside.

"I love this song!" Miko said singing with him.

"Miko, I though you have a history report to do. The detention ended early?" Breakdown asked.

"Good for me." She said buckling up, but then she saw something that put her very nervous. "Uh-oh. Here comes teacher, and she doesn't look happy. Step on it, Breakdown!" She said hiding.

"Aw, Miko." Breakdown said, but he shifted gears and drove out of there. They were going back to the Decepticon base. "Miko, I'm supposed to be your guardian, not your getaway car. You can't just cut detention. What if your parents find out?" Breakdown said.

"They live in Tokyo, remember? And don't even worry about my host parents, I think I scare them." She responded.

"Miko, listen to me. If you fail high school you can't go to…uh…What was that word again?" Breakdown said as they went inside the base.

"Uh college." Miko corrected him as she jumped out of the car. "You sound just like my parents!"

"Aren't they Japanese?" Breakdown asked in confusion as he transformed.

"They may speak a different language but you say the same thing." Miko told.

"Because we want the best for you. And that means making sure you go to school. Not jail!" Breakdown scolded.

"Uh-oh. What'd you do?" Jack asked mockingly.

"Some mess, sure." Knock Out added.

"Look Miko, before I became a Stunticon I worked in some different jobs, like construction. I can build stuff, I can break stuff, and that's it." Breakdown explained to her.

"I love breaking stuff! I wanna be just like you, Breaky." Miko said.

"Oh, why would you want to be like me when you can be a medic, like Knock Out?" Breakdown proposed.

"Future secured." Knock Out complemented.

"Why not something more interesting, like a spy, like Soundwave?" Miko said looking at Soundwave while Breakdown groaned.

"Fresh energon pulse detected, from the nation called Greece." Soundwave informed.

"I heard about that place. It's an ancient city, quiet historic I believe." Knock Out added.

"Ancient Greece, huh? Oh field trip!" Breakdown shouted.

Meanwhile, the Ark was flying near to a storm for one reason: a couple of transport ships reunited with the warship which transported new Autobots. Grimlock was in the bridge waiting for the new members of the crew.

"It's about time, Smokescreen. I do not enjoy being kept waiting." Grimlock sneered.

One of the new Bots was a black and purple young one with car parts on his body.

"It was a long trip, Grimlock. I'm still revising if all my systems are fully operational." Smokescreen said.

"Yes, right. You're one of those." Grimlock spat out.

"Come again?" Smokescreen asked in confusion.

"Never understood why an unexperienced Autobot would choose a car as his alternative form when he could become a plane or a tank." Ratchet said as he, Bulkhead and Bumblebee entered the bridge.

"Because I like the way I look." Smokescreen responded.

"You came alone?" Bumblebee asked.

"No Bee. Allow me to introduce to you one of the big legends of the Autobot ranks. One of the most skilled fighters and the leader of the female Autobots: Elita One is aboard the Ark!" Smokescreen said as the door opened, showing a new Autobot.

The female Autobot was tall, strong appearance with a black and silver body with red touches and eyes ( **Elita One's appearance of Transformers Prime's deviantart** ).

"You should not exaggerate the presentations." She said to Smokescreen.

"Well I believe you did great, Smokey." Bulkhead accomplished him.

"Elita One, is an honor to finally meet you in person." Grimlock said.

"Likewise, Grimlock. For what I see you have everything under control." Elita observed.

"Of course. That's the proof of true leadership!" Grimlock said proudly.

"Here we go again." Bee said softly.

"Speaking of that, what happened with my sparkmate? I heard that he returned from his quest on the space." Elita asked.

"Well, it is better you see it for yourself. Come with us." Ratchet said as everyone went to the medical bay.

"So it's true that Optimus Prime requires an assist beyond a physician?" Smokescreen asked.

"You…might say that." Ratchet said as the door opened.

Optimus was at the center of the room, still in the condition that Grimlock found him and hooked to life support.

"Whoa!" Smokescreen yelled surprised.

"AH! Optimus." Elita said horrified.

At the same time, a ground bridge portal appeared on Greece, and Breakdown came from it.

"Here we are!" Breakdown said, so Miko got out.

"Sweet!" Miko said as she took a look to the place while Breakdown changed to his robot form. "So what are we doing in Greco-Ville?"

"I'm scouting for energon. You're doing research for your history report." Breakdown answered.

"You punk'd me, Breaky? Not cool!" She pouted.

Breakdown walked through the area looking at the scanner. "Hm, signal's strong. An excavation sight." He said looking in front of him.

"Whoa." Miko breathed.

"I know construction. According to my scanners, humans hit energon veins and they don't even know it." Breakdown said before looking at a damage wall with a Greek painting. He saw closely what the Greek god was holding. "Whoa, that's cybertronian!"

Back with the Autobots…

"Optimus! My dear. What happened to him?!" Elita said frightened to the other Autobots.

"Grimlock found Optimus in this state floating between the space bridge remains, what was left after it's exploded." Ratchet explained.

"Caused by Decepticon interference." Bulkhead added.

"Sadly, our in evidently former Optimus Prime has been like this for some time." Grimlock said.

"But fortunately the crew took a vote and it was decided that an expert might put him on the road to recovery." Bumblebee said looking angered at Grimlock.

"Why you didn't begin to make him recovered immediately?" Elita asked.

"When we discovered him he was nearly dead and we could only stabilize him. But now with the reinforcement I have the proper materials and some extra helping hand. But it seems that I still need one. I heard another scientist was coming with you." Ratchet said looking at Smokescreen.

"That's right, doctor. We had one scientist with us in the transports, and the best thing is that he is also a Wrecker." Smokescreen informed.

"Wait! It is this Wrecker's name Wheeljack?!" Bulkhead asked interested.

"The one who likes to blow things up." Smokescreen affirmed.

"Haha, I can't wait to see him again! Where is he?" Bulkhead said with emotion.

"Yes, I want to know it too because he's the other hand we need to help our lord besides." Ratchet asked annoyed.

"We detected a fresh energon trail when we were arriving and he volunteered himself to go exploring. Wheeljack will show when he's through scavenging it." Smokescreen explained.

At the same moment, Breakdown analyzed what the painting was.

"Why would ancient Greek paint an energon harvester?" Breakdown asked himself.

"You know what that round thing is?" Miko asked Breakdown surprised before she pulled out her phone and took a picture of the painting. "You're smarter than you let on."

"But even dumber than he looks." A new voice said. Miko and Breakdown turned around to see a blue and red Autobot with a roguish smile.

"Wheeljack?" Breakdown spat out.

Wheeljack chuckled. "Miss me?"

"Like rust in my undercarriage." Breakdown answered.

"You know this lunkhead?" Miko asked.

"He belongs to the same team as Bulkhead, they are close partners." Breakdown explained.

"And you have a pet. Does she play catch?" Wheeljack said as he grabbed a pillar next to him and ripped it out of the ground. "Catch!" He said as he threw the pillar right at Miko.

Miko immediately grew worry as she ran from the column, then Breakdown got in the column's way, destroying it and creating a cloud of smoke.

"Miko, stay down!" Breakdown shouted.

While Breakdown prepared for fight, Wheeljack tackled him into the excavation sight. While in mid-air Wheeljack took the upper hand and threw him into the painting, destroying it.

"Oops, hope the pretty picture wasn't too important. See ya, I will send Bulkhead memories from you." Wheeljack said before transforming into a sports car and drive away.

Miko ran to see if Breakdown was fine.

"Told you I'm good at breaking things." Breakdown said disappointed.

"I always have your back, Breaky. Got us a picture of the picture." Miko said showing her phone.

After that, they returned to base to show everyone that discovery.

"It is indeed an energon harvester. A powerful tool created by the ancients to remove energon from any source." Shockwave analyzed.

"Greek gods knew Decepticons?" Raf asked in confusion and amazement.

"No. The ancients often used the art of a given era to conceal messages. This fresco was likely a signpost indicating a harvester's location, hidden somewhere on this planet." Megatron explained.

"Megatron, if the harvester removes energon from anything and you all have energon pumping inside you?" Jack began.

"In Autobot hands, the harvester would be a devastating weapon." Megatron finished.

"See? You were a genius to totaling that painting." Miko said to Breakdown.

"I agreed with Miko. How can the Bots find the harvester without the fresco?" Knock Out asked.

"But more importantly. How are we supposed to find it if all we have is a painting for a clue?" Airachnid asked.

"With high-speed internet. If you do an image search for Greek God and Golden Orb this pops up. It's in a museum." Raf showed everyone an image, which Soundwave increased, of a Greek god holding the energon harvester.

"Is that the real deal?" Airachnid asked.

Megatron was quiet for a moment as he looked at the picture. "Contact agent Silas." He said at last.

Soundwave did it, but an answering machine was all he contacted. "You've reached special agent Silas. I'm currently on an intensive training retreat and unavailable until Tuesday."

"I hate talking to machines." Starscream grumbled as the machine was playing.

"Without agent Silas's direct aid, we will have to confiscate the harvester on our own." Megatron announced.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Confiscate? As in steal museum's property?" Jack said alarmed.

"That sounds…illegal." Raf said.

"I do not wish to break human law, but once the Autobots learn of the harvester's location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary. We must act covertly." Megatron said.

"No offense, Megatron. But covertly and giant robots don't go together. Museums are public and they have guards and security cameras." Jack continued.

"No problem! We're small enough to sneak in! And we are not a government secret." Miko said.

"Miko, I'm not sure that's wise." Breakdown said.

"But it may be our best option, Breakdown. The longer we debate, the more time we give the Autobots." Megatron concluded.

But the Decepticons weren't the only ones who knew where the harvester was. Blaster found the same image and showed to all the Autobots inside the Ark.

"Jackie! How glad I am to see you again!" Bulkhead said as he grabbed Wheeljack in a big hug.

"Haha, I'm glad to see you too, old wrecking ball." Wheeljack said before turning to Blaster. "Hey, I saw that today! Just in the place we detected energon this morning."

"Do you believe it is the true harvester?" Bumblebee asked.

Ratchet stare the picture with attention. "Hum, Wheeljack. Does it match the picture you saw?" He asked.

"Absolutely, doc. That surely is the real deal." Wheeljack asserted.

"Then I'm afraid Optimus Prime's well-being will have to wait. It's harvest time." Grimlock said darkly.

It was the dead of night when the Decepticons arrived to the museum. The team split for several areas, with Megatron being in the air at the front of the museum.

"Decepticons, confirm positions." Megatron instructed.

"Top secured." Starscream said on the museum's roof.

"Westward secured." Airachnid said landing.

"( **Eastward secured.** )" Stinger communicated.

"Breakdown and I have the south side covered." Knock Out said.

"Maintain your guard." Megatron said as he landed. "Jack, Miko, Rafael, I will have a clear view of you. Once you secure the harvester, I will contact Soundwave to bridge you back to base."

The kids were at base waiting in a forklift. Then Soundwave activated the ground bridge.

"Since you'll bypass all points of normal entry, you won't need to worry about setting of the alarm." He said.

"But watch out with the guards and security cameras." Shockwave reminded.

The vortex appeared in an empty hall just down a ways from the harvester, and the kids emerged through it. In front of them was a fossil of a T-Rex, and next to it was the statue with the harvester at hand.

"OPA!" Miko said when she located the harvester.

They saw Megatron outside flashing some lights, signal that it was all clear. Jack raised the scissor lift until they were directly next to the security camera. Miko took out her phone, leaned closer to the camera to get a better look at the statue and took a picture of it. Next she changed the picture to the wallpaper on her phone and put it in front of the camera. With that, in the security room the guard saw nothing out of normal. Once Miko finished, Jack moved the scissor lift to the statue. But outside, Megatron noticed some lights coming from behind him, coming from a black and purple sports car with a nine painted on the sides.

The car pulled up next to him and whistled. "Well, well, it's not normal to find here a vehicle like you. Your appearance it's not the usually used on these streets, just like my fellas here."

Then a brown heavy car appeared accompanied by Wheeljack, so it was Bulkhead. He pulled out a turret from his back and fired against the museum. Megatron changed to his robot form and blocked the blast with his sword. The blast force impact made a crack in the window. Megatron looked back at the children, who fortunately were fine, so he looked back at the Autobots.

"Over here!" Someone said.

But then, Cliffjumper and Smokescreen jumped over him at knocked him out with a direct kick on his face.

"It's Bots!" Raf gasped.

"They got Megatron." Jack said.

"Hum, I was expecting more resistance from you, buckethead." Smokescreen said.

But someone more than the Autobots saw that.

"Lord Megatron! What have you done with him, Autobots?!" Starscream shouted above them.

"Keep buckethead down, Smokey. I'll handle Screamer." Cliffjumper said as he climbed up and engaged Starscream.

Smokescreen flashed his headlights, making Wheeljack and Bulkhead took off at full speed charging at the museum. Fortunately the Cons noticed that and came to help. Bulkhead fired his turret at Stinger, hitting him and making him skid across the road in robot form. He fired against Knock Out, taking him out of the fight too, before Airachnid landed over him and blocked his turret with webs. Then Wheeljack transformed and tackled Airachnid, so they two started to fight. Then Breakdown jumped from atop the roof and charged at him, but Bulkhead transformed and slammed his fist on his face, sending him flying into Smokescreen and the pillar. The pillar's pieces crashed the window, triggering the alarm. The guard heard that and observed that someone was blocking the statue with a false picture. With one last push from Raf, the harvester rolled off of the statue's hand and onto the scissor lift. Smokescreen got back up and saw Megatron getting up. He jumped to kick him again, but Megatron grabbed him in the last moment and threw him at Cliffjumper, earning a smile from Starscream.

"Come on; time to make our exit, boys." Miko said as she ran ahead while Jack and Raf followed her.

She turned left to see a garage door and pressed the button to open it. The door opened and Miko went under it, but then she felt a light as she turned to see a security guard, not really happy.

"Uh…what's up?" She said nervous.

The guard turned off his flashlight and grabbed her by the wrist. "Better come with me, miss." He took her to his office and locked the door behind him.

"Not good." Jack said as he and Raf were hidden. Then he saw a part of cybertronian legs at the exit. "Airachnid!"

But when they got closer they discovered that it was other Autobot.

"It's Blaster!" Raf said frightened.

Blaster grabbed the harvester and transformed into his spy plane form and flew off. The other Autobots saw him.

"Yeah, that would be game." Smokescreen said cheerful.

"It seems that we're over here." Wheeljack added.

"See you next time, Cons." Bulkhead said firing his blaster.

The four Autobots transformed and drove off. Airachnid and Starscream tried to chase them, but it was too late.

"Guys, the Autobots have the harvester!" Jack said to them as he and Raf ran towards them.

"And security has Miko." Raf added.

"What?! Now she gets into trouble even during our missions?" Starscream asked confused.

"I'm going in after her!" Breakdown said.

"Breakdown, Miko may be detained, but she is safe from harm." Megatron reassured.

Miko sat in the security guard's office with a bored expression. The guard tapped his fingers impatiently on the table.

"Look kid, if this is some kind of prank, you need to know that the authorities are on their way. It'd go a whole easier for you if you just told me what happened with the sphere." The guard said.

"I was researching for my history report. I just lost track of time and got locked in here after closing." She responded quickly.

"So what's your history report about? I'd love to know." The guard asked.

"Uh…" Miko trailed off, this was going to take a while.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons were scattering to different places in order to locate the energon harvester.

"In all likelihood, Grimlock will use the harvester to gather as much energon as quickly as he can from the planet's otherwise unmined energon deposits. Approach with extreme caution, Grimlock will not hesitate to turn the harvester on any of us. Breakdown, it is best that you remain here." Megatron instructed.

"So I can bust Miko out of the museum?" Breakdown asked eagerly.

"So you can help Knock Out and Shockwave. You may be Miko's guardian, but now she requires human assistance. Agent Silas remains her best option." Megatron explained after transformed and went through the ground bridge.

"You've reached special agent Silas. I'm currently on an intensive training retreat and unavailable until Tuesday." The machine said again.

"Still no answer." Raf said.

"Silas's lounging around some poolside cabana." Breakdown growled as he punched his fist into one of many tools.

"Breakdown, I just buffed that!" Knock Out yelled.

"We can free Miko if we can just return that harvester to the museum." Breakdown said.

"So the Autobots can steal it all over again?" Shockwave retorted knowingly.

"…I am so dumb!" Breakdown moaned.

"So how are we going to help Miko?" Jack asked worried.

"By returning this replica to the museum." Shockwave showed.

"The construction of which would be going a whole lot faster if Breakdown hadn't just handle the frame welder!" Knock Out shouted.

"We're already trespassers and thieves. Why not add forgery to the list?" Jack remarked sarcastically.

"I wish I had never taken Miko to the… The painting of the harvester isn't the only thing we found at those ruins." Breakdown remembered.

"I'm sorry?" Shockwave said.

"Grimlock is maybe a Dinobot, but he is not dumb! Not matter what kind of tool he have, he's gonna take the easy route!" Breakdown realized.

And Breakdown was right, because the Autobots were in the same place where he and Miko found the energon.

"I have to admit it, Grimlock. For once you had a good idea." Bumblebee said.

"Why move mountains now when we have a motherlode of energon right here for the taking?" Grimlock asked rhetorically as he grabbed the harvester. "Courtesy of this gift from the ancients."

"Actually, general Grimlock, it was a gift from Bulkhead and myself, with a little help from the rookie." Wheeljack corrected.

Grimlock groaned as he aimed the harvester at the group, causing them to back away in fear.

"Grimlock, no!" Bee shouted.

Grimlock fired the harvester at them, but they managed to evade the beam, which hit a trooper. The soldier began to struggle for his life as the energon was being sucked out of him into the harvester. Grimlock smirked as the trooper gasped for his last breath of air and collapsed on the ground, dead.

"By the Allspark." Cliff said surprised.

"All that energon in such a tiny vessel." Grimlock said darkly.

"Those ancients never missed a trick, King Grimlock." Smokescreen remarked.

Grimlock glared at them again aimed the harvester at them, making all them back away in fear, preparing for the worst. However, he only wanted to scare them to laugh before passing the harvester to Bumblebee. He aimed the harvester at the otherwise unmined energon and activated it, sucking more energon in front of everyone. Breakdown just arrived on the scene as he saw Bumblebee take the energon and Grimlock seeing it. He quickly slid down a hill and walked towards the Autobots. Unfortunately, he stepped onto something and shattered it, gaining the Autobots's attention.

"Oh scrap." Breakdown muttered.

"Want some more?" Bulkhead teased as he, Wheeljack and Smokescreen approached him, Bulkhead with his wrecking balls and Wheeljack pulling out two swords from his back. The three ran in opposite directions, but headed towards Breakdown. When they were very near, Breakdown ducked and Bulkhead ended up hitting Smokescreen.

"Oops, sorry Smokey." Bulkhead apologized.

Then Breakdown took the chance and grabbed both Wreckers and crushed their heads together, knocking them out. Cliffjumper jumped over him with intention to attack, but Breakdown responded pulling out his hammer.

"Hammer time!" He said hitting Cliffjumper.

Grimlock and Bumblebee saw that too.

"How he managed to take down all of them?" Bee asked.

"Give me that!" Grimlock roared taking the harvester from Bee's hands.

When Breakdown turned around, Grimlock fired the harvester at him and began to take the energon from his body. He collapsed onto the ground and struggle to get up.

"You're a big one. This could take a while." Grimlock sneered.

But Breakdown got up and began to walk as fast as he could to Grimlock and the energon harvester.

"Wait. What are you doing?" Grimlock demanded as Breakdown stood before him.

"What I do best." He said as he grabbed two pillars from the ground next to him. "Smashing Bots!"

He hit Grimlock with both pillars in his face, taking him down and grabbing the harvester, deactivating it. Breakdown collapsed onto the ground and passed out. The Autobots regained consciousness and walked up to Breakdown and smirked.

"He's gluten for punishment." Wheeljack remarked.

"Before retrieving the harvester, let's give him a lesson he will never forget." Bumblebee said sinisterly as he pulled out his guns.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a ground bridge as the Decepticons jumped out of it. They began to attack in mid-air.

"Now that everything was going well." Bulkhead yelled.

"What do we do now, sir? Should we fight?" Smokescreen asked.

"I vote for retreat and get out of here as fast as we can." Cliffjumper suggested.

"Totally agreed. Let's drive." Bumblebee ordered as all the Autobots transformed and drove out of the area.

Grimlock wanted to fight, but when he saw how things gone horribly wrong, he roared and transformed into his dinosaur form and escaped running and breathing fire. The Decepticons ran up to Breakdown who was slowly waking up from the energon he had lost.

"Hey." Breakdown said weakly, showing them that he had recovered the harvester.

At the dawn, Miko was still making time with the guard in the museum.

"And of course, there's the whole principle of Deux Ex Machina, the God of the Machine. It's a part in Greek storytelling where some character shows up out of the blue to make everything right." Miko explained.

"That so, young lady? Well, I'm sure the police would love to hear all about your history report." The security guard remarked sarcastically.

Then a knocking noise came from the door, and agent Silas entered the room.

"Special agent Silas, private forces." He said showing his badge. "No need to worry, officer. The stolen property has been located and restored to museum premises."

The guard looked him in confusion. Then he turned around and saw through the camera the orb back in its rightful place.

"The girl comes with me." Silas proclaimed as he pulled Miko on her feet and handed her phone back. "You dropped your cell phone. Found it on the floor, right next to your history report."

The security guard was still in shock as Silas and Miko walked out of the office. As they got to the front of the museum, Miko grinned as she saw Breakdown waiting for her.

"Off you go." Silas nodded to her.

Miko got inside Breakdown.

"Good timing, Breaky. I was running out of history factoids. Stuff I didn't even know I knew!" Miko gushed excitedly.

"Looks like you're smarter then you let on." Breakdown remarked as Miko buckled the seatbelt.

"Under pressure." Miko retorted.

"Me too." Breakdown agreed. Then he drove out of the museum's parking lot.

"Can't wait to finish my history report. I'm gonna write all about how Decepticons interacted with ancient civilizations." Miko proclaimed.

"Uh…I not sure that will get you into college, Miko." Breakdown remarked.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven- Mortal Race**

A black and purple sports car was driving through the night while he heard the radio.

"As metropolitan PD continues to crack down on illegal street racing, citing the danger to both drivers and pedestrians-." The radio said.

Smokescreen turned the radio off and continued driving. As he arrived to some street race, he stopped next to a black car with a tattooed driver, who looked at him.

"Not from around here, European design?" The driver asked.

Smokescreen didn't answer. He only wanted to focus on the race, and most importantly, on win it.

"Sure is pretty, too pretty." The driver said as he used his ring to scratch Smokescreen's door.

He looked the damage and the driver who closed his window. "Big mistake." He said as he prepared to race, but now he had another intention.

The referee held the flashlight in his hand and switched it on, signaling the racers to go. The four racers took off and began to make their way to the finish line. The driver in the black car was in the lead while Smokescreen was last. The driver smirked and pressed the pedal to go faster. Smoke and fire came from the engines as the RPM went up to 7000. He looked back to see if there were any drivers behind him. Just then, Smokescreen caught him up very fast. And next, he rammed into the driver's car.

"Hey!" The driver yelled.

But when they turned a corner on the tracks Smokescreen rammed into the car one more time, making it to swerve a little and went over the edge of the cliff. Instead of tumbling down the wall, the car landed on the bottom upside down.

"Uh…dude." The driver moaned.

Smokescreen looked over at the driver. "If you play dirty, I can do it worse." He sneered before drove off to the finish line.

At the next day, the school was over and Jack got inside Airachnid, who was preparing for departure. But before he closed the door, someone caught his attention.

"Hey, gliding device." A voice said.

Jack turned around to see a red-headed boy with a green jacket and blue jeans on the back of his car, named Vince. He was known to be the school bully, picking on him, Miko or Raf, and trying to get with any girl he could.

"Uh…this device is aerodynamic and can withstand winds up to 110 kilometers per hour." Jack said proudly before blasting off.

Because of the multiple cables above her, Airachnid was forced to fly low until they got to an open space to fly directly to the base, so now she was moving like a floating car, because she stooped when the stoplight turned red.

"Thanks for defending me, Jack. But you know? A lady's vital stats are her own business." Airachnid said.

"Hey, Nick right?" A voice said.

Jack opened the window and saw Sierra and her sister on the sidewalk.

"Actually, it's Jack." He corrected.

"Sorry, Jack. I'm Sierra." She introduced.

"I know." He responded.

"You are the first boy of the school who has a helicopter. Have you offered someone for a flight yet?" She asked.

"No, I haven't." He said.

"And with good reason. I'm your guardian, kiddo. Not your wingman." Airachnid reminded him quietly.

"So, how about if you can take me now?" Sierra began.

"Uh…" Jack thought for a moment, but was stopped short when Vince pulled up next to him.

"Hey, hey! Small world!" Vince began.

"I'm having a conversation." Jack said.

"Cheer captain here might enjoy watching you take on four wheels of muscle car." Vince smirked as he gestured to Sierra and the other girl, who was whispering something in her ear.

"Are you challenging me? To a race?" Jack questioned.

"You catch on quick ponge. What do you say?" Vince asked impatiently.

"Uh…" Jack stuttered nervously. He saw Sierra encouraging him. But before he could answer, the light turned green and Airachnid flew off with Jack yelling in surprise.

"You didn't let me answer!" Jack yelled in frustration.

"Nope." Airachnid answered.

"Airachnid, we can smoke him." He tried to persuade.

"I know." She said in agreement.

"You just don't get it." Jack said after sigh.

"I don't make the rules, Jack. Megatron does. And rule number one, in case you missed it: never abuse power for personal gain and that includes speed power." Airachnid explained as they stopped at the next light.

Jack sighed as Vince drove up next to him. "Vince, maybe racing isn't such a good idea." But he was cut off as Vince began to laugh at him.

"Figured! You fly around like your coper is something special. But it's just a chunky, lunky, trike! And ugly!" Vince finished.

The lights turned green and Vince made a u-turn and drove off.

"That's it! The yahoo's going down!" Airachnid growled as she made a u-turn herself and flew off after him.

"Whoa, what happened to rule number one?" Jack asked.

"Gets bent, just this once." Airachnid answered.

The two girls were calmly walking down the sidewalk as Vince drove next to them.

"Yo girls! Your pal Darby, he's-." Vince began.

"Ready when you are, Vinny! And I will do it by helicopter at your same way!" Jack said as he flew up next to him.

Vince was a little shocked, but he smirked a little. "Dirt road by trucker's ranch, one hour."

They met on the dusty road. Vince and Jack were getting ready to race while the girls were watching from the side.

"From here to the next mile market. Ready, go!" Vince yelled before he drove off.

"Well, that was fair." Jack said sarcastically before Airachnid flew off.

Vince and Jack drove past the two girls as they made sure their skirts didn't fly up. Jack then noticed that Airachnid wasn't trying and that Vince was in the lead.

"Um…Airachnid?" Jack questioned.

"Winning isn't enough, Jack. You wanna make him cry." She explained.

Vince looked into the mirror and saw that Jack wasn't behind him. He then heard an engine as he saw Jack flying in front of him. And the best thing is that Airachnid was flying in reverse. She turned back and went faster than Vince, passing the mile marker.

"Whoo hoo! Outstanding! Hey, now might be a good time to offer Sierra a quick flight around the block?" Jack said.

"Don't go so far." She responded.

Inside the Ark's medical bay, Ratchet and Wheeljack were working in making Optimus's condition better. In that moment, Grimlock and Elita One entered.

"Doctors, has there been any change in Optimus's condition?" Elita asked.

"Not much, only cosmetic." Wheeljack responded.

"We're doing the best as we can, but it's seems his condition is worse than we imagined." Ratchet said.

"How bad is it?" Elita asked worried.

"His armor's wounds and rust are not a serious problem, but the hole located in his spark chamber is very worrying. If it wasn't for the live support machine, he'll leaking energon constantly and his spark will be extinguished in no time. At least we know he's still alive thanks to the brain activity the device detect." Ratchet explained.

"Will you be able to repair that hole?" She asked again.

"It's not impossible, but the process is very delicate and slow. It will take a lot of time to reconstruct his spark chamber, check that everything is well and fill it with enough energon to induce the body to reinitiate all his main systems and reignite his faint spark." Ratchet finished.

"So what are you waiting for? Start right now!" Elita shouted.

"We had started a few minutes ago if the assistant was here." Wheeljack confessed.

"Well, I am sure that all of you have been doing everything in your power. And speaking of Smokescreen, where is he?" Grimlock said.

Right in that moment, Smokescreen entered the room.

"Can you guys believe what some skin job did to me?" Smokescreen said pointing the scratch of his arm.

"Don't worry Smokescreen, I'm sure that one ended worst. You made sure, right?" Bumblebee said from the com-link.

"Of course, no one make me a scratch and go away without payback." He responded.

"You have been street racing among the humans?" Elita asked surprised.

"Again?!" Ratchet shouted.

"But why?" Wheeljack asked interested.

"Because I am not only an automobile, I am an automobile enthusiast too." Smokescreen shrugged.

"I do strive to run a tight ship, Smokescreen. I would strongly suggest that you seek my permission next time you decide to disappear on one of your little…jaunts." Grimlock warned.

"No problem, general." Smokescreen affirmative.

"It is King to you!" Grimlock groaned.

"Only if Optimus Prime takes a nosedive." Smokescreen defended.

"Rrrrgggg. The day our master emerges from stasis, I will graciously relinquish the title. But I believe that outcome is unlikely, something to do with the quality of medical care around here. So continue buffing, we do want Optimus looking his best for the memorial." Grimlock said before leaving the room.

"That's not gonna happen! Continue with your job, without pause." Elita said before leaving.

"Right now. Come here, Smokescreen. We need your assistance." Ratchet said.

"Okay, let's buff this!" He said, trying to cheer the others.

At the same time, Airachnid and Jack arrived to base. In the hallway, Airachnid transformed and step next to Jack.

"Not a word to anyone." She told him.

"Our little secret." Jack winked.

She smiled and walked away from Jack.

"Dude!" Miko called out in excitement as she made car noises. "And the winner is…!"

"Miko, who told you?" Jack asked nervously.

"You're kidding? It's all over school!" Miko confessed.

"You beat the pants off that blow-hard bully Vince!" Raf piped in.

Miko yelled in surprise as Jack pulled her close as the three formed a group huddle. "You guys have to keep this on the DL, especially from Megatron." Jack whispered to them.

The next day, the school bell rang as Jack walked outside, followed by Sierra.

"Hey! I've been looking for you. The race, how great was that? I was like: Yeah! Go Jack!" Sierra said.

"It was no big deal." Jack shrugged.

"You got that right." Vince said as he shoved Jack with his shoulder. "If you think you can run with the big boys, the circuit. Tonight. 11 p.m."

Jack cleared his throat and looked at Sierra, who was encouraging him to go. At the end, he confessed his decision to Airachnid when they were going to base.

"You agreed to what?!" She screeched.

"It is some kind of secret racing club. I don't know, I had no choice! Sierra was standing right there!" Jack defended.

"You always have a choice, Jack. And what part of just this once do you not understand?" She told him.

"I know, I'm sorry. But we're on, right?" Jack asked hopefully.

"We are not on." Airachnid immediately answered.

At the same time, Smokescreen was driving near Jasper.

"Smokescreen, Grimlock's been looking for you again. Where'd you go?" Bulkhead asked through the com-link.

"Out for a little drive. I just roll from town to town. Sniffing around until…" He said when a purple car honked as he pasted him. "The next opportunity presents itself."

Smokescreen changed the gears and drove to catch up with the other car, which was leading him to Jasper. Meanwhile, Raf was playing a race video game, when Jack showed up.

"Raf? Uh…is there any way I can borrow Stinger for an hour?" Jack asked nervously.

"( **I'm always ready to show my skills in a race.** )" Stinger said cheerful.

"Jack, you know racing's against the rules." Raf reminded.

"That's right. Did you think what would happen if Lord Megatron found out? Especially if he notices one of your guardians is gone." Knock Out added.

"But guys, he's gotta get the girl! And beat the bully!" Miko persuaded.

"Well…" Raf trailed off.

"Of course, I have not said anything about asking another one to race." Knock Out said, surprising everyone.

"You want to race?" Breakdown asked.

"It's one of my illusions of this planet." Knock Out confessed. "So, what do you say, Jack?"

Jack answered with a warm smile. The moon was shining at the starting line where the racers were with some girls. Everyone was surprised when they saw a blue European sports car driving on the scene. Vince sat patiently at the starting line as the blue car rolled next to him. He looked over and widened his eyes in shock as he saw Jack sitting inside it.

"The helicopter's in the shop." Jack said to him.

"That is the bully who you hate so much? He doesn't look like a mad person for me." Knock Out told.

"Wait until you meet him in person and you'll change your mind. Trust me, I know him better than anyone." Jack responded annoyed, remembering all the times Vince messed with him.

Just then Sierra walked up in front of the drivers and saluted him.

"Whoa. So that's the girl you like? Not bad." Knock Out complemented.

"Yeah, she's fine." Jack confessed, because Knock Out was a guy too.

"Just don't talk much about her back to base, especially when Airachnid is around. You do not want to get her jealous." Knock Out said getting Jack confused, because he didn't know what he meant.

"Circuit drivers, are you ready?! Make it mean but keep it clean!" A roughneck shouted on the side of the bridge.

All the drivers prepared for the race as Sierra put her hands in the air, just when without notice it Smokescreen joined in the last second.

"Fire' em up in 5…4…3…2…1!" The roughneck said as Sierra threw her hands to the ground and crouched low as the cars drove off.

Jack and Vince didn't care about the others racers and went to the first place, but Smokescreen catches them very fast.

"Hey, isn't that the Decepticon they call Knock Out? Maybe I can earn something more than a personal satisfaction." Smokescreen said to himself.

Smokescreen decided to ram himself into Vince's car and drove up ahead.

"Uh oh." Knock Out said.

"What was that, Knock Out?" Jack asked.

"We got company." Knock Out said.

"Wait, I know that car." Jack said as he looked into the rear view mirror.

"That's the Autobot rookie, Smokescreen. Hold tight, Jack! This race just becomes a bumpy ride." Knock Out said.

Jack yelled in surprise as Knock Out took control and drove along the wall. Smokescreen copied the action as two guns popped out from the car's front and began firing at him. Vince looked in surprise as he saw the two cars drive up the wall and off the tracks.

"What the…?" Vince said.

The two cars continued the chase on the bridge's road.

"Can you lose him, Knock Out?" Jack asked nervously.

"Don't worry. I still have some tricks up my tires." Knock Out said calmed.

"I hoped so. Cause I'd rather not call the base for backup." Jack said.

At base, the kids were still playing, with Stinger and Breakdown watching them. Then Airachnid came inside the main hall.

"Anyone seem Jack? I'm looking for him. And Knock Out?" She said.

Miko and Raf looked at each other nervously.

"Not since we last saw them." Miko said.

"They're racing, aren't they?" Airachnid assumed.

"Just this once." Raf said.

"Did you two know about this?" Airachnid asked to Stinger and Breakdown.

"( **No!** )" Stinger said.

"Same here…Maybe, a little." Breakdown confessed.

"Guys, this is Knock Out. Sorry to interrupt your sweet night, but we're being chased here by Smokescreen!" He said through the com-link.

"That sounds like an Autobot." Miko commented.

"Knock Out, do not engage, your first priority is to keep Jack safe. Until I get my hands on him." Airachnid said the last for herself.

The chase was still going on.

"Take this, Autobot." Knock Out said as he leaked some oil on the road behind him.

As Smokescreen tried to drive on it, he began to lose control.

"Slick. Well done, Knock Out." Jack commented.

"I'm still good." He said proudly as he hid under the bridge.

Smokescreen, after the little side track problem, drove on top of the bridge. Knock Out sensed this and turned off his lights and engines, while Jack froze and tried to control his breathing. At the end, Smokescreen thought that no one was there, so he drove off from the bridge.

"I think we lost him, Knock Out." Jack whispered.

A pair of lights hit Knock Out as a car drove up to them.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Jack groaned realizing that it was Vince.

"Darby!" Vince growled as he got out of the car and pounded his fist into an open hand.

Smokescreen immediately stopped as he heard Vince's voice. He looked from his side-view mirror to see the lights, so he went back.

"Vince, you have to get out of here, okay?! You win congratulations! Now go!" Jack tried to warn him.

"No. Start and back up loser. We're finishing this race! Don't wanna take it to the finish line? Fine! Then we've got something to settle right here, right now-WHOA!" Vince said as he was grabbed by Smokescreen's hand.

Vince yelled while Smokescreen threw him in the air. He landed in his passenger seat with a grunt. Smokescreen finished transforming and wrapped the seatbelt around Vince so he couldn't escape.

"What's going on?" Vince demanded in fear.

An energon zapper came before Vince and zapped him in the eyes, and he went out. Smokescreen drove off while Jack tried to catch him up, but he was gone.

"Guys, you'll never guess what I'm packing. One of the Decepticons human friends!" Smokescreen said cheerful.

"Whoa, that's a good new, Smokey. With him in our possession, we can make a trap for the Decepticons." Bulkhead proposed by the com-link.

"In that case, we should ask for backup to secure the Decepticons's breakdown." Smokescreen said.

"That would not be necessary, kid. Bulk and I can deal with all of them; because you know that Wreckers don't call for backup, they call for clean up!" Wheeljack corrected.

Knock Out reunited with Jack on the bridge.

"Come on, Knock Out. He's getting away!" Jack cried.

"Calm down, Jack. Reinforcement is coming this way." Knock Out said.

Then they heard Breakdown honked as he, Stinger and Airachnid reach there.

"Jack, we need to have a little chat." Airachnid demanded.

"Later, Airachnid. Vince got snatched by that sports car Bot." Jack told them.

"What would Smokescreen want with some random human?" She asked.

"He probably mistook him with Jack, believing he's one of our human friends." Knock Out deduced.

"That's right, Vince is in trouble!" Jack reminded.

"Oh well, tough break for Vince." Breakdown shrugged carelessly, earning looks from everyone.

"Breakdown!" Knock Out shouted.

"What? I heard the guy's a jerk!" Breakdown defended.

"No argument there. But the guy is also innocent. Vince doesn't deserve to get crushed by Bots!" Jack said.

Airachnid sighed, but she was really proud of Jack aptitude, so she changed to his helicopter form. "Get in."

Meanwhile Raf and Miko were waiting at base.

"They should have called by now. You think Stinger is okay?"

"Don't worry Raf. Breakdown wouldn't let anything happens to Jack and Sting." Miko reassured.

Then they saw Starscream entering the room.

"We should just tell the others the truth." Raf proposed.

"Absolutely not! We made a deal. Just act completely normal." Miko whispered.

"Hey kids, do you know where the others are?" Starscream asked.

"Yes, they go outside in order to help us find some specimens of desert life." Miko invented. "What? Is one of my host parents' hobbies."

"Huh, you humans and your crazy hobbies." Starscream said as he left.

"Uf, that was close." Raf said, but they didn't notice that Megatron entered the room by the other side.

"Miko, Rafael, do either of you know where the others have gone?" Megatron asked.

"Why no, sir. We do not know." Miko lied.

"Miko is correct. We do not know." Raf said nervously.

"Why would we know?" Miko asked.

Megatron found this shifty, which made him raise an eyebrow at them. "Hm."

Meanwhile, the four Decepticons were going through the streets of Jasper. When they heard a car comes by, they stopped at the intersection and let the car pass, but they recognized that it was Smokescreen, so they followed him.

"Knock Out brought company." Smokescreen observed as he went faster.

"On your guard, boys. It could be a trap." Airachnid informed.

"Remember, no shooting." Jack reminded them.

"Speaking of safety, Jack. This is where you get off." Airachnid said as she landed and Jack climbed off of her before going back with the others.

The Decepticons arrived at a place with a hole in the wired fence. Airachnid climbed onto a water tower and watched from above to see the others, who wandered around the area with their weapons ready. Then suddenly, Smokescreen flashed his light beams. But they were able to see a grenade in the center of the area, and they managed to avoid it before it exploded. But this was a distraction for Wheeljack and Bulkhead to burst through a wall and tried to attack them, but they avoided them. Stinger attempted to punch Bulkhead, but Wheeljack grabbed and through him at Knock Out. Fortunately Breakdown was keeping Bulkhead busy, so Stinger and Knock Out shot Wheeljack, getting his attention while Smokescreen watched with Vince unconscious in his seat.

"Hm, where is the eight-legger?" Smokescreen asked himself.

Then Airachnid landed on him and hit him with one of her claws.

"Hey, that's cheating!" He yelled as he began driving away, while Wheeljack grabbed Knock Out and tried to slice him with his swords, but he shot him first, freeing himself.

Jack was waiting for the Decepticons when he heard the sound of screeching tires and saw Smokescreen driving with Airachnid on top of him. She lost her balanced and fell off, but managed to transform into her helicopter form and flew off to chase Smokescreen.

"That's my girl!" Jack cheered quietly.

Bulkhead tried to smash Stinger completely, but he managed to get out of the way, only to receive a punch from Wheeljack.

"Uh, guys, in case you're looking for me, things got messy, so I hit the road. One scream is enough for today." Smokescreen said through the com-link.

That call distracted the two Wreckers from noticing that Knock Out and Breakdown grabbing two lights post and smacked them with it, sending them flying and crashing through a wall.

"Home run!" Knock Out yelled in excitement.

Meanwhile, Airachnid was chasing Smokescreen down a dusty road. She was close to catching him, but he added more pressure to the accelerator and drove farther away from her.

"Eat my dust, Deceticreep." He taunted.

But an engine noise caught his attention. Smokescreen didn't see where the noise came from, until Megatron hit him from the sky, making him swerved out of control and landed in a ditch. He tried to drive out, but he was stuck.

"Megatron, Smokescreen has a hostage." Airachnid informed as her leader transformed and walked up to Smokescreen.

"Understood."

Megatron picked up Smokescreen from the ditch and lifted him in the air. Smokescreen screamed in pain as Megatron ripped the driver's door. He carefully reached inside and pulled Vince out, before he threw Smokescreen aside and he transformed.

"Do you know how much that hurts?" Smokescreen screeched as he looked his arm.

The rest of the Decepticons arrived, and Smokescreen, knowing that he was outnumbered, he transformed and drove off. Jack was riding in Knock Out, who lowered his window.

"Megatron, this is my fault." Jack said.

"No. Actually, this is my entire fault." Airachnid said, trying to keep Jack out of trouble.

"We must get this boy to safety, immediately. Explanations can come later, from all of you." Megatron said angrily.

A few moments later, Vince began to gain conscious as the effects of the energon zapper wore off. His eyes adjusted to his surroundings as he saw he was in the passenger seat of another car. He turned to see that Jack was the one driving.

"How…what happened?" Vince said.

"Some guys jumped you under the bridge. They tossed you into their trunk. Must have been some kind of initiation." Jack invented.

"Really?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, I found you knocked out by the side of the road." Jack finished.

They arrived at the bridge where Vince left his car. Jack opened the passenger door and Vince got out of the car.

"I gotta be honest. After what I saw tonight, I think racing isn't my thing." Jack confessed.

"I hear you, Darby. Hard to win a race driving a pedal car!" Vince sneered.

Knock Out pressed the pedal and drove off leaving a trail of dust behind them.

"You were right, Jack. That guy is a jerk." Knock Out commented as they drove off back to base, to give Megatron some explanations.

Meanwhile, on the Ark, there was another row between Grimlock and Smokescreen while Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper looked from behind.

"Smokescreen! Was I not clear? Or do I speak Quintesson?! You have defied my orders yet again!" Grimlock shouted.

"My mistake, general Grimlock. But I've learned my lesson…and paid the price." Smokescreen grumbled as he looked at his damaged arm.

"It…is…KING! And you have paid when I say you have paid." Grimlock said as he transformed into a cybertronian T-Rex. "Perhaps this will be a great suffering for you, but for me it will be a great entertainment." He said showing his teeth.

"No, no please! Anything but that!" Smokescreen begged as Grimlock was approaching him.

Smokescreen tried to escape, but Grimlock caught him with his jaws and began to shaking him like a toy.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!" Smokescreen yelled in pain as the other Autobots cannot look that horrible show.

The next day, Jack walked out of school to Airachnid, when Sierra approached him.

"So Jack. Do you have time for that flight?" Sierra asked.

"I'm sorry, Sierra. I can't right now." Jack apologized after looked at Airachnid.

"No problem. I guess I'll just see you around." Sierra shrugged sadly before walking away.

"Hop on." Airachnid said suddenly.

"Whoa, really?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Just this once. Besides, there still a lot of things you need to learn about love." Airachnid emphasized.

Later on, Sierra was impressed by the views saw inside the helicopter, while Jack was smiling as they flew away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve- Flashbacks of Pain**

In the deep space, a bizarre space ship was travelling through the stars, but its route took it right to Earth. Upon arrival in the dead of night, the ship crash landed in a forest. At the next morning, Airachnid and Jack were scouting near in the area, but it seems that Jack was having problem with some creatures.

"Really wished I packed some insect repellant. The mosquitoes on here on these routine recons are the size of vampire bats. And they drink just as much blood. Ow!" Jack said trying to keep away the mosquitoes.

"Hahaha, quiet the outdoorsman, aren't you Jack?" Airachnid teased.

"You wouldn't be making fun of my survival kid." Jack said.

"Maybe." She smirked.

"I may not have proof metal skin, extra legs and shoot webs, Airachnid. But in a pinch, I can use my multi-function pocket knife and magnesium fire-starter to cook up some freeze-dried Mac-and-cheese." Jack boasted proudly.

"You have your tools, I have mine." Airachnid said before the scanner detected something. "That's odd. Shockwave's satellite scans were accurate, but subterranean energon deposits don't cause this kind of surge."

Airachnid walked faster through the forest, with Jack following her. When they reached the end of the clearing, the scanner began to beep rapidly, and they saw a ditch, which trail lead to the top of the mountain.

"What happened here?" Jack asked.

"Crash landing. Stay behind me, low and close." Airachnid instructed Jack before continuing walking.

They followed the trail until they reached to the crash site, where they saw a cybertronian ship.

"Autobot or Decepticon?" Jack asked.

"Can't tell. Wait here." Airachnid said.

Airachnid changed to her spider mode and she walked cautiously to the ship. She climbed to the top and aimed her hands to the entrance, and next she entered the ship. A few moments later, Jack saw Airachnid walking out of the ship, wobbling at her knees.

"Airachnid?" Jack asked worried.

She held out her arm against the ship to stay balanced, and then she had a flashback. _The flashback showed a dark room with two unknown robots, one of them female, who were torturing someone, and in the end, one claw, similar to Airachnid's splattering energon over the wall._ Then Airachnid shook her head, trying to get rid of the memory.

"Airachnid! What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"I know who this ship belongs to." Airachnid said as she activated her com-link. "Airachnid to base, I need a ground bridge, ASAP."

"Wait, why? Who ship is this?" Jack asked.

"Base, do you read?" She asked again, earning static in response. "Scrap! Com-link's dead! This ship gotta be transmitting a high-frequency scrambler pulse."

"Airachnid? Okay, you're kinda freaking me out here!" Jack said.

"Wait here." She said before walking into the forest.

As a good hunter she was, Airachnid examined the ground, analyzing some footprints, which looked to be done by something big, and female. That brought her another bad memory. _Airachnid was trying to struggle against her bounds. The electrical cuffs held her hands. The male Autobot approached her, with bad intentions. The only things heard next were sounds of punching and Airachnid's screams._ Then a voice pulled her from limbo.

"Airachnid?" Jack asked.

She turned to see Jack looking at her with fear and worry. Without saying anything, she immediately transformed into her alt mode.

"Get in." She ordered.

Jack got inside her, and she immediately blasted off and flew through the forest at high speed, making evasive maneuvers and making Jack scream, until she landed after a couple of seconds.

"It was that really necessary?" Jack yelled as he got out.

"Airachnid to base." She said again, but she received static only. "Scrap."

"Look, I've seen danger before, whatever this is…" Jack said before Airachnid interrupted him.

"Wait here. I mean it this time." She instructed.

"Uh, okay, first you shut me out. Now you're ditching me?" He said as Airachnid transformed to her original form. "I thought I was your partner."

"No Jack, you're a kid. You're only here because this was supposed to be no risk. Got it? Now please, wait here until I come back." Airachnid said before transform and fly away.

Nevertheless, Jack decided to follow her and tried to figure out what was worrying her. After made some distance from Jack, Airachnid transformed and continued tracking her prey. She activated her spider legs to walk more silently, but when she saw a tree cut by some kind of sharp weapon, she experienced another flashback. _There was a big battle in a cybertronian city, with blasters, explosions and rockets heard from the distance._

" _This is Airachnid. Speaking to any unit who can receive this message. I request rendezvous coordinates. Anyone read me?"_

" _Breakdown here, I read you. What happened, Airachnid? Did you lose your sense of direction?"_

" _As same those Vehicons lost their aim. If they tagged that sniper back at the artillery depot I wouldn't had to break rank and engage the enemy hand-to-hand." She said as she heard the explosion impacts getting closer._

" _From the sound of things, I'm guessing you came out ahead." Breakdown said._

" _Try to find me and I'll give you the play by play. What's your position?" She asked._

" _About half a click from the depot due north. Think you could find it?"_

" _Trust me, Breakdown. My navigation abilities are…" She said when someone hit her from behind._

 _She tried to stand up and see who attacked her, but before seeing nothing, another Bot knocked her out. When she woke up, she was chained up by stasis cuffs, even all her spider legs. She struggled to get lose, groaning in effort._

" _Well well, seems like you came back right now. I was beginning to lose all hope that you can help us, right partner?" A female voice said from behind her and walking around her._

" _Piece of advice? Make yourself comfortable. You're going to be here awhile. And unless you tell us what we want, you're going to experience great suffering." Another voice said this time was a male Bot, who approached and began to punching Airachnid._

Airachnid gulped as she recognized the mark of the cut. In other part of the forest, there was a family on camping inside a camp tent having a good time. But they didn't noticed that they were being observed by a sinister cybertronian: a female purple Autobot with red touches and eyes, who appearance showed that she currently transformed into two wheels vehicles, like motorcycles. The evil female looked to the humans with interest.

"My first locals. Time for humankind to fell the strength of my wrath." She said as she began to approach them very silently.

When she believed she was close enough, she launched at them, but she didn't reach to them. Instead, Airachnid tackled her and they rolled down a hill. When they reached the bottom, Airachnid crashed into the wall while the female Autobot fell to the ground. She slowly got up and smirked.

"Airachnid, small universe."

"Too small, Arcee." Airachnid sneered.

"You're still inside the fight? The war has been over for mega cycles." Arcee said calmly.

"Tell that to the Autobots." Airachnid said preparing her spider legs.

"Now I travel solo, thanks to your doing." Arcee said with anger. "I'm in pursuit of my new hobby."

 _Airachnid remembered what she saw inside Arcee's ship: a collection of heads from different species was hanging alongside of the wall._

"I got a look at your souvenir case." Airachnid told her.

"You mean my trophies? I collect endangered species. Of course, they aren't really endangered until they meet me. And I have a slot reserved for human." Arcee smirked.

"Not gotta happen." Airachnid growled before she launched herself to Arcee, but she was fast enough to evade her and tackled Airachnid to the ground, but Airachnid smacked Arcee and she collided with the rock.

While Airachnid clutched her throat, Arcee activated her blasters and fired. Airachnid jumped onto a tree and fired her webs at Arcee, tying both hands together. As Arcee began to struggle, she pulled the connection to Airachnid, causing her to fall to the ground in surprise. Then Arcee activated her wrist blades and cut through the webs. She continued to fire at Airachnid, but she fired too. Arcee dodged the shots and jumped high to grab a tree branch.

"I learned how to pass all your tricks, Airachnid." She said as she flipped once before she jumped off with intention to pin Airachnid to the ground.

"Not all." Airachnid said before caving an underground tunnel.

Arcee tried to hit Airachnid shooting at the hole, but Airachnid jumped out the ground behind her and pinned Arcee to the ground wand put her claws at her throat. Suddenly, they both heard a crumbling noise and turned to see Jack slowly coming down the hill. Taking the opportunity, Arcee kicked Airachnid off of her. Next she grabbed some of her webs and launched them at Airachnid, pinning her to a rock. She tried to break free, but her webs were too strong.

"Too bad to get stuck with your own tricks, no Airachnid?" Arcee said.

"Airachnid!" Jack yelled running toward her.

Arcee turned her attention to him, and Airachnid, realizing she would attack him, used her acid from her fingers to cut through the webs and shot Arcee's back, sending her flying to a rock, falling unconscious.

"I told you to wait for me!" Airachnid told him as he tried to pull the webs to set her free.

"Well partners don't ditch partners!" Jack retorted as he pulled on a particular web.

"Get this through your head. You are not my partner, you're a liability."

"I don't believe you. I can see it in your eyes. You're afraid, Airachnid. And you're never afraid." Jack said.

That made Airachnid remembered another horrible memory. _She was still in the room, but her body showed a lot of dents and marks, caused by the constantly interrogation technique the Autobots were using._

" _You know, for a Decepticon, your resilience is quiet impressive." Arcee said as Airachnid didn't say anything._

" _In fact, I'm guessing that no matter what we do to you, you'll never crack. Am I right?" The other Autobot asked._

 _Airachnid looked at him menacingly. "That's what I thought." He said after going to speak with Arcee in private._

 _During that break, Airachnid noticed that one of her extra legs was free, so she had a chance to get out of there; she only needed to wait the right moment. After a couple of seconds, the male Autobot returned to her._

" _Okay, shall we continue where we left it?" He said crunching his fist._

 _But before he could start to punch again, Airachnid attacked him with her claw. A few moments after, he began to leak a lot of energon, and fall to Airachnid's foot, who was shocked for what she had done._

" _Tailgate!" Arcee said as she run next to her partner, now dead._

" _It wasn't my intention to kill him, only to take him away." Airachnid responded._

 _Arcee looked at her with anger, and released her wrist blades, shouting in rage._ After that, Airachnid returned to the real world.

"You're right, Jack. I am afraid, of losing you!" Airachnid blurted out, causing Jack to freeze in shock.

"Oh, so you have a partner now, that's new in you, Airachnid. But I recently picked up some Autobot radio chatter regarding the passing of some Vehicon named Steve." Arcee said walking towards them, while Airachnid saw where this was going. "At some point, you really have to ask yourself, Airachnid; Is it them or is it me?"

"Do you get it now, Jack? She's not interested in me! She hunts indigenous species, and she's on Earth! That means humans, you!" Airachnid said to Jack, who showed a horrified look. "RUN!" She yelled at him.

Jack began to run for his life, while Arcee made sure Airachnid were totally stuck.

Arcee approached Airachnid as she laughed. "And that's why I now prefer to work alone. For a long time I wish to make you experience the same suffering that I had when you killed Tailgate, but what you know? We are now tied. It's so sad when bad things happen to those close to you. But don't get me wrong. I fully intend to snap out your spark, and believe me, I will make it hurt. But that won't compare to the pain you'll feel knowing that I'm adding your human to my collection." Arcee smirked looking at Jack, while he took a last view to them before get into the forest, before she began chasing him.

"JACK!" Airachnid screamed.

It was already night when Jack ran through the forest. He looked back to see that Arcee wasn't too far behind and she was approaching very fast, so he had no choice but to keep running.

"That's the spirit, Jack. Play hard to get." Arcee said joyfully.

Airachnid continued to struggle against her bounds when she remembered a last flashback. _She looked at Arcee, who was approaching to her with her blades ready._

" _You've taken my partner, now I'll take your spark!" She said furiously._

 _Airachnid closed her eyes, waiting for the end, when suddenly the door exploded as smoke made its way into the room. Arcee growled and escaped while she had the chance. Then Breakdown ran into the room, activated his shoulder's turret and fired at the troopers. Then he and another Decepticon freed Airachnid and took her out of the room._

" _Hand in there, soldier. We're going to make you feel better." The Decepticon said as she went off again._

Airachnid closed her optics and hung her head sadly.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I never should have looked back. I should have…kept flying." She said softly.

Airachnid began to walk so she could try to stretch the webs and rip them off. When she had enough distance, she transformed into her alt mode and tried to rip the webs from the wall. Meanwhile, Jack was starting to get tired, and he didn't know where Arcee could appear. So he decided to hide under a tree trunk. Arcee stooped and pulled her servos on the fallen tree trunk where Jack was hidden, looking around. Jack watched in horror as Arcee stepped over him, but then she stopped.

"Hello, Jack." She said turning at him immediately.

Jack screamed and began to evade Arcee, who tried to grab him, and pass the tree trunk, running from her again. Arcee tried to shot at him, but he dodged in time. Airachnid continued flying at her highest speed, and after a couple of minutes she finally broke free. Now she needed to look for Jack, who was still running from Arcee. He reached to the gap, and the only thing he could do is went down and climb up on the other side. Arcee discovered him at the other side, but she jumped the gap very easily. Jack hid behind a tree and pulled out his multi-function pocket knife and pulled out all the blades, which all were useless against Arcee.

"Oh who am I kidding?" He groaned before keep running.

"You're making this too easy, Jack. And I don't enjoy being bored." Arcee expressed.

She continued following Jack until she saw him heading for her ship, making her smiling sinisterly. She walked near the ship's entrance, knowing Jack was hiding behind the door, but she played it off.

"Now, where did you scamper off to?" She saw before walking away.

Jack released his breath when she was gone. He saw the ship's entrance and decide to take a way. Arcee walked by the top of the ship and jumped off, believing he went inside the ship.

"If you wanted a tour, Jack, all you had to do was ask. Did you spot the empty space? I hope you like it. It's where you'll soon hang your head." She said entering the ship.

But fortunately, Jack was still outside the ship. Now he was going near to the engine thrusters. He heard a splash, and he recognized the blue liquid below his foot which was leaking from the engines.

"Energon."

Then an idea came to his head. He grabbed a stick, pulled out his magnesium fire starter and his pocket knife and started to scrape the metals together, sending sparks.

"Jack?" Arcee said inside her ship, noticing something wrong.

As she ran outside and climbed to the ship's top, Jack continued sending spark to the stick, until a small flame appeared. Then he threw the stick to the engines and he ran off. When Arcee reached there, with her wrist blades ready, she saw the fire spreading on the energon.

"JACK!" She yelled.

The ship exploded as Jack kept running, but the explosion sent him flying back to the forest. He saw how the ship ended, now turned into scrap, so believing that the explosion killed Arcee, he decided to go back and look for Airachnid. But then he saw a tree trunk coming at him. He evaded it at time, but then he saw Arcee, covered in flames, running at him. This time, she managed to catch him. But when she was ready to terminate him, they heard a flying sound, and Airachnid descended very fast. She engaged Arcee, hitting her with a couple of moves, until she used her spider legs to launch her, knocking down dozens of trees. When Arcee stopped, she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Jack! Are you okay?" Airachnid said freeing him.

"Yeah, of course. Survival kid." He boasted as he held his pocket knife.

Suddenly they heard the sound of fast steps, and they looked Arcee running away.

"ARCEE!" Airachnid cursed as she tried to shot at her, until she disappeared inside the forest. "So much for closure." She said with disappointment

"Now Arcee's stuck on Earth. I'm not sure that is such a good thing. Airachnid, I know that you're still affected but, I want to know what is between you two. Just to understand what you feel." Jack said.

There was a silence moment.

"Okay. If you don't want to tell me, I will understand." Jack said.

"No Jack, you're right." Airachnid suddenly said. "You know that Autobot's name is Arcee, don't you? Well, before the war I didn't even know Arcee, the name had no meaning to me. But, during a battle on Cybertron, Arcee and her partner Tailgate captured me, got me from behind. I woke up in stasis cuffs, unable to move any of my limbs. Tailgate got cocky and started teasing me, punching, kicking, to get me to talk about something I had no knowledge of. One of his swings got wild enough to break one of the cuffs binding my legs. And, well... a girl has to do what a girl has to do. I did attack Tailgate, but with no intention of killing, only to stun. But I did, accidentally, hit him in the spark. He fell to my feet, so Arcee went mad with rage and was going for the kill. If Breakdown and one of his comrades didn't show up, I wouldn't be here." She explained.

"Whoa, that's quite a story. Now I understand all this." Jack said surprised.

"I'm sorry you had to face my demons today. You were pretty fearless there, Jack." She apologized.

"Actually I was terrified, mostly for you." Jack admitted.

Airachnid smiled at him. "Soundwave, requesting ground bridge." She said while Jack squished another mosquito on his chest. "I need to get my partner far away from any untrusted two-wheeler vehicles."

"Partner, huh?" Jack smirked.

"Junior partner. I can still pull ranks." She corrected while the sun was rising.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen- Sick**

The daily activity inside of the Decepticon base was interrupted when Starscream called out for Megatron.

"Lord Megatron, you're not going to believe this. Soundwave've just pinpoint the location of the Autobot warship." Starscream announced.

"Did you manage to penetrate their cloaking technology?" Megatron asked.

"Negative. I was experimenting the variable frequency wavelengths when I stumbled upon it. Even still, their ship might be experiencing some kind of electromagnetic breach." Soundwave explained.

"With Optimus Prime deceased and the element of surprise." Airachnid started.

"We can cause serious damage." Breakdown finished.

"Also on the same frequency, a Decepticon emergency beacon." Shockwave added in surprise.

"The Autobots can wait; they may be Decepticons in distress. Knock Out, bring your medical kit." Megatron instructed.

The ground bridge transported Megatron and Knock Out to the center of a desert, in middle of the night and inside a sand storm. They saw the ship buried in the sand.

"A crash landing. Buried here for centuries." Megatron observed.

When they got to the ship, Knock Out transformed his hand into a small drill and made an opening into the ship. Megatron kicked the opening down and the two walked inside. Then Knock Out activated his car lights.

"If they traveled in stasis mode there may be survivors." Knock Out informed.

The ship suddenly was moving, making the two Decepticons to lose their balance, and regained it after that and continued walking through the ship. Megatron used his strength to open a rusted door, but what they saw inside left them in shock: bodies of dead troopers were lying everywhere. Their bodies were rusting while there were pools of a discolored purple-like energon.

"Megatron! These Decepticons didn't perish in the crash! They're displaying the effects of a virus." Knock Out informed as he scanned one of the dead bodies.

"This is a plague ship." Megatron said. He was about to step forward, but Knock Out put his hand in front of him.

"Don't touch anything! The virus could still be active!" Knock Out warned.

The ship shook once again and the two Decepticons stumbled back against the wall. Megatron pointed his flashlight upward to see a Decepticon dangling from the wires. The body slid down from the wires slightly and drops of the infected energon fell from the body and landed on Megatron's face. He grunted as he tried to swipe it away, but the energon was deep in his systems.

"No! Soundwave, we need a ground bridge immediately, it's an emergency!" Knock Out said.

A few minutes later at base, Megatron laid on Knock Out's gurney. His right side of the face was beginning to rust like the infected Decepticons, and his right optic was blinking.

"Cybonic plague. Its only contagious if contact is made with the infected energon." Knock Out said as he scanned the infected area.

"What was a plague doing on a Decepticon spaceship?" Miko asked.

"Its passengers were infected. The virus wiped out millions on Cybertron during the great war." Airachnid explained.

"Cybonic plague was engineered in the Autobot biological warfare program, supervised by Optimus Prime." Shockwave said.

"You have a cure, don't you?" Raf asked.

"No…cure." Megatron rasped.

"My liege, please. Save your strength." Knock Out told him gently.

"Would Optimus create a disease without having a cure? I mean, what if he caught it by accident?" Jack suddenly asked.

"It's not like we can ask Prime, Jack. He's pushing up lugnuts." Breakdown said.

"But we may be able to access the Autobot database." Shockwave suggested.

"Right. For the moment, we still have a fix on their warship's location." Starscream remembered.

"Stinger, come with." Airachnid instructed.

"Airachnid, quickly." Starscream warned.

The ground bridge opened up in the middle of a hallway aboard the Ark. Airachnid and Stinger appeared through the portal with their weapons ready.

"Let's start with the lab." Airachnid suggested.

When the got to the lab, they hid behind a wall just in case an Autobot walked out of the lab. And they did right, because Wheeljack casually walked out of the lab. He stopped for a brief moment, sensing something was off, but he just shrugged and walked down the hall. They entered the lab once coast was clear. Stinger was keeping an eye on anything interesting while Airachnid walked to the computer.

"I'm in the network." Airachnid announced through her com-link.

At the same time at base, Knock Out was looking at Megatron's assemblage, and it wasn't pretty.

"Knock Out, were you…" Megatron spoke weaker.

"Infected? No." Knock Out responded.

"If it's here, I don't see it." Airachnid contacted.

"Are you certain, Airachnid?" Starscream questioned.

"I've searched every file. Nothing!" She reported.

"Well, search again! Clearly you missed something!" Starscream retorted through the com-link.

Stinger peaked through a window of a door on the other side and saw something which caught his attention. "( **Airachnid.** )" He said.

"I've scanned the entire database!" Airachnid said in anger.

"Did you use a redundant quantum algorithm?" Shockwave suggested.

"Don't tell me how to research! You think you're the only ones who care about Megatron?!" Airachnid yelled.

"( **Airachnid, you need to see this.** )" Stinger said as he pointed at the door.

"What is it?!" She growled as she walked over.

"What is it? What's going on?" Starscream asked impatiently through the com-link.

When Airachnid got to the window, the door automatically opened and she widened her optics in horror. A body that was hooked up to life support was lying down on a berth. It was the leader of the Autobots.

"It's Optimus Prime. He's alive." Airachnid said in disbelief, making everyone to stay in shock.

"What?" Jack said.

"That's not possible." Starscream gasped in disbelief.

"It's not logical." Shockwave added.

"Well I'm staring right at him. Good news is Optimus isn't exactly staring back." Airachnid explained as she and Stinger activated their weapons and walked up slowly to his lifeless body.

"Optimus…" Megatron gasped.

"He's critical. Hooked up to life support. Time to finish this once and for all." Airachnid said as she began to charge her blaster.

"Wait! Don't!" Shockwave yelled.

"One good reason, fast." She said.

"Optimus may be Megatron's only hope for survival." Shockwave said.

"What are you talking about?" Starscream asked.

"Does he display brainwave activity?" Shockwave asked through the com-link.

"Spiking hard. His sick mind is still at work." Airachnid answered bitterly.

"Perfect! If a cure exists, Optimus may be the only one who knows it. You must enter his brain and find it." Shockwave proposed.

"What?" Knock Out asked surprised, almost dropping one of his tools.

"Enter Optimus's brain? Shockwave, are you out of your fragging mind?" Airachnid demanded.

"The Autobot laboratory should contain all the equipment you need for a cortical psychic patch." Shockwave continued explaining.

"No way." Airachnid refused.

"Have you ever even performed the procedure?" Starscream asked.

"No. But I have thoroughly studied the theoretical literature. Invented by Autobots, outlawed by Decepticons." Shockwave recalled, making Starscream understand his point.

"Whoa. Can't we just haul Optimus through the ground bridge and buy us some time to figure this out?" Knock Out proposed.

"Time is one thing that Megatron does not have!" Starscream shouted to Knock Out before turning to the com-link. "One of you must try this! I will not allow Megatron to pass knowing that Prime will outlive him!" He swore.

"Starscream, I would lay down my life for Megatron. Anytime, anywhere. But a mind body split…" Airachnid trailed off.

"( **I'll do it.** )" Stinger volunteered.

"You will?" Airachnid said.

"Are you sure, Stinger?" Raf asked worried.

"Sting's the best scout of all the Decepticons." Breakdown reassured.

Raf looked down as Jack and Miko began to comfort him. Meanwhile, in the Ark's bridge, some Autobot engineers ( **similar to the Vehicons who turn into cement trucks of Transformers Prime the game** ) reported to Grimlock, and by the look of his face, they were bad news.

"Why has the electromagnetic shielding not been repaired?" Grimlock demanded impatiently.

"We are working as quickly as we can, King-." An Autobot engineer said when then Grimlock slapped him on the faceplate.

"We are leaking a trail! All the Decepticons need do to pinpoint our position is to access the correct frequency wavelength! Accelerate your efforts!" Grimlock ordered.

"Yes, King Grimlock." The engineer said before he and his comrades went back to their positions.

"How is everyone?" Smokescreen greeted as he walked in.

"Ah, Smokescreen. What news the doctors have about the patient?" Grimlock asked.

"For what they observed, same old." Smokescreen sighed.

"An inglorious fate that he should remain in this vegetative state." Grimlock said sadly.

"On the contrary. The doctors have said that Optimus's body might be scrap metal, but his mind is still peculating." Smokescreen corrected.

"Keep that to yourself. That blasted Blaster sees and hears everything." Grimlock hissed.

"The eyes and ears of the Autobots." Smokescreen said in the same voice tone.

"Well, as long as their master remains in limbo, so does their cause. The Autobots deserve a strong, alert leader." Grimlock decided.

"One who would require a loyal second in command." Smokescreen added, which made Grimlock chuckled.

"A candidate will have to earn that post by making a strong case to said eyes and ears." Grimlock continued.

"A case for showing mercy, King Grimlock?" Smokescreen smirked.

"You scratch my back, and I get yours covered." Grimlock smirked.

Meanwhile, Airachnid walked over behind Optimus and hooked up the first end of the cortical psychic patch. Next she walked over to their hiding place and looked at Stinger, who gave her the thumbs up.

"Shockwave, we're ready." Airachnid reported through the com-link.

"Initiate cortical psychic patch." Shockwave instructed.

Airachnid hooked up the other end of the patch behind Stinger's head. He widened his optics before the world behind disappeared. He looked at his hands just to make sure that everything was going right so far. He looked to his surroundings to see a big room, like a library, so he proceeded down a bridge to look for the information.

"Communications downlink activated." Soundwave said.

"This will allow us to see and hear everything Stinger does while in within Optimus's subconscious mind." Starscream explained.

"Whoa. Where's that?" Jack asked.

"( **It is very similar to Decagon. The center of the Autobots capital.** )" Stinger answered.

"Sting says it looks like Decagon. The Autobot capital back on Cybertron." Raf explained.

"Guys, Megatron's vitals…" Knock Out reported.

"We know." Starscream said. "Quickly Stinger, we know you're in unknown territory, but you must figure out where information might be filed in Optimus's mind."

Stinger continued walking up the stairs until he saw Megatron standing before him.

"( **Megatron.** )" Stinger said with a relief as he ran up to him.

"Stinger, that is not Megatron, but a figment of Optimus's mind. It cannot see or hear you." Shockwave said.

Then a dark laugh was heard as Stinger looked up to see Optimus Prime on higher ground.

"Megatron, your Decepticon armies are defeated. Bow before your new master." Optimus told him.

"Never, Optimus. One shall stand, one shall fall." Megatron said as he activated his blade.

"So be it." Optimus sneered as he activated his own swords and jumped down from the cliff.

The two enemies charged at each other with full speed, but when Megatron was about to make the kill, he missed and Optimus sliced through him, causing him to disintegrate.

"That never happened." Breakdown protested.

"Because it's not a memory. We're seeing Decagon as Optimus has recreated it. In his darkest dreams." Starscream sneered.

Stinger hid behind a rock as Optimus walked off. Suddenly, the rock began to change as it formed another Megatron.

"Optimus, your treachery ends here." Megatron said as he pulled out his sword.

Optimus retracted his swords, changed to his blasters and charge them. Stinger tried to get in the way of the blast, but it was useless as it hit Megatron and he disintegrated.

"The Decepticon scout." Optimus observed as Stinger looked up with fear in his optics. "The punishment for trespassing on my domain is your destruction!"

He raised his sword as Stinger prepared for the worst, but instead of Optimus killing him, the sword just went through him. Stinger hummed in confusion as Optimus looked at him in surprise and shock.

"How can this be?" He demanded as he tried to slice Stinger over and over again.

"Optimus can't touch Sting?" Raf asked.

"Because he is not a creation of Optimus's mind, Stinger is immune to his physical attack." Shockwave explained.

Stinger was now still as Optimus was walking around him.

"You are not wearing phase displacement armor. Your eyes track my movement so you're not a hologram, and I do not believe in spirits. So tell me scout, what are you?" Optimus demanded.

"Optimus." An all too familiar voice said.

Stinger and Optimus turned to see Megatron, Starscream, Breakdown and another Stinger standing before them.

"Uh-oh. Special guest stars." Miko observed.

"This is not good." Starscream said.

Stinger looked at Optimus in disbelieve.

"( **Uh, hold a second.** )" Stinger said before he walked up towards the other Sting. "( **Hello?** )" He said waving his hand in front of his face.

Optimus yelled and fired at the Decepticons that disintegrated.

"You are real, they were not!" Optimus said before chuckling. "A cortical psychic patch, how unexpected."

"We've stirred Optimus from his oblivion. He's becoming self-aware." Shockwave warned.

Optimus took a look to his surroundings.

"If this is my subconscious? What are you doing inside my head?!" Optimus shouted turning to Stinger.

In the real world, Airachnid continued to keep guard while Stinger was currently unconscious.

"Come on, Sting. What are you doing in there?" She said.

Suddenly the doors opened as Smokescreen, Grimlock, Elita One, Bumblebee and Blaster walked into the medical bay.

"Smokescreen, can you tell us what is the doctors's medical summary to our comrades, for the historical record." Grimlock requested.

"Simply put. They said that unaided, Optimus could remain in this deathless slumber forever." Smokescreen informed.

"Our master would not have wanted to be seen this way. To stand idly by while he remains captive in his own body is not just." Grimlock sighed.

"What?! Are you giving up already?!" Bumblebee said in disbelief.

"That's not true! Optimus's still alive, look at the screen." Elita One said pointing the screen.

"Brainwave activity. Not evidence of consciousness. But merely in an endless dream from which Optimus may never wake." Smokescreen corrected.

"What are you trying to tell us?" Elita One asked.

"Autobots, we must face reality. Optimus Prime is lost to us." Grimlock proclaimed.

"The only honorable option would be to show him mercy." Smokescreen said sadly.

"A simple throw of the switch." Grimlock clarified.

"Quick, painless, compassionate." Smokescreen added.

"I don't want to believe that we have lost Optimus. I can't." Elita said in tears.

"Me neither." Bee said.

"So, it only depends on you, Blaster." Smokescreen pointed.

Fortunately, Airachnid heard all the conversation.

"Guys, are you hearing this?" She whispered.

"If Optimus Prime perishes, Stinger's mind will remain separated from his body forever." Shockwave informed.

"Will lose Stinger and Megatron?" Jack asked in disbelief.

Meanwhile, inside Optimus's mind, he continued to circle around the scout.

"The only way you could have entered my mind is via cortical psychic patch. But the question remains: what happened to me?" Optimus demanded.

Stinger didn't answer because he was terrified. But then, Optimus had a memory about the events of the space bridge explosion.

"The space bridge explosion. And yet, if you're in my head, I am not one with the Allspark." Optimus realized. "So tell me scout, do I still function?"

"Stinger, we are out of time!" Starscream said through the com-link.

"( **Wait, Optimus. I'm here because someone of great importance has been infected with the Cybonic Plague.** )" Stinger explained.

"Cybonic Plague? Someone besides myself is…is unwell?" Optimus asked with worry, earning a nod from Stinger. "Megatron!" He realized before he began to laugh. "Such irony! But after ages of endless battle, the mighty Megatron is felled by a simple virus from the distant past." Optimus said, making Stinger angry. "And what makes you think I would save the life of my oldest enemy?"

"Optimus! Your treachery is…" Another Megatron said before receiving a shot from Optimus, disintegrating too.

"( **I can help you get what you want.** )" Stinger answered.

"Oh, and just what is it that I want most, scout?" Optimus asked interested.

"( **The chance to destroy Megatron by your own hands.** )" Stinger responded, causing Optimus to laugh.

"Did you not see? I do slay Megatron by my own hand. At will! Whenever I desire!" Optimus added.

"( **If you let the virus kill the real Megatron, you'll never get the chance to truly do it.** )" Stinger said.

"Sting told Optimus that if he lets the plague virus destroy the real Megatron, Optimus will never get the chance to do it himself." Raf translated.

"Smart." Jack said.

"Twisted." Miko smirked.

At the same time, the Autobots were still deciding Optimus's destiny.

"Blaster, do I take your silence to mean you concur with the doctors's verdict?" Grimlock asked, earning no response from Blaster, while Bee and Elita tried to encourage him to say no.

"Speak now or forever hold your peace." Grimlock threaten as he reached for the cable. "Going…going…"

Airachnid was getting ready to attack, but then Blaster pointed the cable that linked Stinger and Optimus together.

"What is a cortical psychic patch cable doing right here?" Elita asked.

"Scrap." Airachnid said.

Meanwhile, in Optimus's head…

"After our deep history together, to not watch the spark end from Megatron's eyes with my very own." Optimus confessed.

"( **You'll be stuck here with a lifetime of regret.** )" Stinger added.

"Well played, scout." Optimus said as he opened his servo to reveal a cube with cybertronian words. "The chemical formula for the cure you seek…not that I expect you to know how to read it."

Stinger was about to grab it when Optimus closed his hand and it disappeared. "( **Huh?** )"

"Not yet." Optimus objected.

"( **Seriously?** )" Stinger asked.

"And how am I to accomplish terminating Megatron as you propose while I'm trapped in a perpetual daydream. Once you release me from this prison, you will have the cure." Optimus explained.

Bumblebee was exanimating the patch cable at that moment.

"Come on, come on." Airachnid said, getting more nervous.

But in Optimus's head…

"You must guarantee my recovery. Or Megatron fades to gut metal grave. The real Megatron." Optimus threatened.

Stinger was without options. But fortunately…

"Soundwave, rewind the conversation!" Shockwave ordered.

Soundwave was rewinding and fast-forwarding until Shockwave got the picture of the cure.

"Airachnid, we have the formula!" Shockwave informed.

"Disconnect Stinger now!" Starscream yelled.

Airachnid immediately pulled the cable from Stinger's head. That caused that Optimus dream began to crumble and disintegrated around them.

"You were watching. You tricked me!" Optimus yelled.

"( **See ya, Prime.** )" Stinger saluted as he began to disintegrate.

"No! Take me with you! TAKE ME!" Optimus begged as he began to disintegrate as well.

Airachnid shook him to wake him up.

"Hurry, Sting!" She said.

Airachnid prepared her weapons as Bumblebee began to approach them, then Stinger came back online.

"What in…?!" Bee said while a ground bridge portal appeared behind them and Stinger went through. "Intruders!"

"Allow me!" Airachnid smirked as she shot one of the cables of the life support machine, destroying it before went to the ground bridge, which disappeared later.

"No! Reconnect him to life support, hurry!" Elita One yelled.

Smokescreen helped Bumblebee to connect another cable to the hole of Optimus's chest, while Grimlock looked in disappointment angered. It took the whole day, but Knock Out managed to cure Megatron of the virus.

"That's it. Steady." Knock Out said helping Megatron off of the berth, while everyone kept clapping and cheering with joy and relief.

"Please, reserve the hero's welcome for my physician, and my scout." Megatron said proudly.

Then everyone began to clap for Stinger, who was surprised and bowed to everyone. Meanwhile, inside the Ark, Elita One and Grimlock went to visit the medical bay.

"Ratchet, how is Optimus doing today?" Elita asked.

"Funny you should ask. Not sure what the Cons did in there, but Optimus's registering zero brainwave activity." Ratchet informed.

"Meaning?" Grimlock asked.

"Physically he's stable, but now there is no one home." Ratchet explained.

No one knew what happened to Optimus's mind, but after the congratulations, Stinger's optics dilated, meaning he was seeing something inside his mind, something with glowing red eyes.

"I'm out, or should I say in?" Optimus said before laughing maniacally.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen- Possessed**

Knock Out was running through diagnostic on Megatron the next day from when he was cured.

"Follow the light." Knock Out instructed as he shone the light in Megatron's optic. He looked slightly irritated, but simply followed the light. "Good, good. I wouldn't advise anything strenuous, Megatron, but it appears that your systems have fully recovered from the Cybonic plague." Knock Out said turning off the flashlight.

The braces around Megatron retracted as he stepped out of the medical chamber.

"Thanks to your medical expertise, my friend." Megatron said.

"It was your scout who braved unknown territory to locate the cure." Shockwave said.

"( **It was nothing really.** )" Stinger said a little embarrassed.

"Lucky for us Optimus was still alive." Airachnid admitted.

"( **I can't believe you just said that.** )" Stinger said in surprise.

"Yeah, I actually said that." She repeated.

"What matters is that you are on the mend, Megatron. While Prime…" Starscream said.

"( **Airachnid is the only one who really knows if that is true.** )" Stinger said.

"Sting's right. I did my best to finish Optimus's story. Just couldn't stick around long enough to see how it ended." Airachnid explained while Stinger went out of the room.

Stinger walked away from the group and down the hall looking at his servos, but it wasn't him.

"It is matter of time before Megatron discovers all is not right with you, scout." Optimus spoke inside Stinger's mind. "I must reclaim my body, which means taking complete and total control of yours."

Later, Stinger, Breakdown and Knock Out were with the kids in the main hall, ready to play basketball.

"Basketball, by way on Cybertron! Let the games begin!" Miko proclaimed as she blew her whistle.

Stinger spun the ball on his finger and made a shot for the hoop, but Breakdown caught it before it went in and made a shot instead.

"Yeah! Go, Breakdown!" Knock Out and Miko cheered.

"Come on. Best two out of three!" Breakdown challenged as he threw the ball to Stinger.

He caught it and made his way to the hoop while dodging Breakdown.

"Sting! You're in the clear! Dunk it, Sting!" Raf yelled.

As Stinger was about to dunk it, he suddenly stopped. Because he was seeing another of Optimus's memories of the space bridge battle.

"Stinger, quit hogging the ball!" Breakdown groaned while Stinger was still in front of the hoop.

Then Stinger threw the metal ball at Breakdown, but he ducked and the ball hit the wall.

"Flagrant foul!" Miko shouted after she slid down the ladder and blew the whistle again.

"Dodge ball by way of Cybertron." Jack remarked.

"Sting, hoop's over there." Knock Out pointed out.

"( **Sorry, I spaced out.** )" Stinger apologized.

"Sting, you okay?" Raf asked with worry.

"( **Don't worry, Raf. Three out of five?"** ) Stinger asked as he help up three fingers.

"Yeah, three out of five." Raf answered.

Later, Stinger was walking normally inside the base, when suddenly he felt Optimus presence again.

"If I am to return to my body, I must first restore its functionality. How did I escape annihilation?" Optimus said as he began to remember.

The flashback showed when Optimus felt the Dark Energon being pulled from his chest.

"Of course! Dark energon!" He said as he recognized the Bot who did it. "Grimlock!" He said angered.

Meanwhile in the Ark, Grimlock was messing with Optimus knocking three times on his head.

"Knock, knock." Grimlock said as he knocked two more times. "Is anyone in there? No, oh well. Seems I possess the only thing that would allow you to rise off that slab and walk again, my dearest Optimus Prime." Grimlock said as he held the dark energon shard and threw it in the air. "The only scrap left on this planet plucked from your very spark chamber! But it cannot restore your mind. The Autobots need a leader, not a decorate center piece. And I will convince them that I am the true heir to your throne. With a plan so epic…"

"Not even the mighty Optimus Prime could've conceived it?" A voice asked.

Grimlock turned around to see Smokescreen leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Grimlock laughed nervously. "That was the idea, Smokescreen. How long have you been there?"

"Long enough. And it's general Smokescreen to you, once and future King Grimlock." Smokescreen corrected as he bowed, making Grimlock smiling proudly.

Raf was outside is house, but he began to grow worried. School was about to start and Stinger didn't ever show up, so he decided to call Jack through his cell.

"Raf? Class is starting!" Jack whispered in his phone at the school.

"Stinger never picked me up for school, and his com-link's off again. Any idea where he is?" Raf explained.

Stinger was inside the base's main hall. When he looked one of many tools, his optics dilated again and he walked over to the tool. He picked it up and looked at it.

"Yes. Go on, scout. Obey my will." Optimus said inside Stinger's mind.

So Stinger crushed the tool.

"Stinger!"

Stinger turned around when he was back to normal to see Knock Out, not very happy.

"I just buffed that!" Knock Out whined.

"( **I did this?** )" Stinger said confused.

"What has gotten into you?" Knock Out asked.

"( **It's weird, but I'm seeing Optimus face**.)" Stinger explained.

"You're seeing Optimus's face?" Knock Out asked in surprise.

Later, Stinger was in the medical chamber, where his optics turned off, signaling he powered down.

"Stinger's complaining of intermittent visions, waking nightmares if you will." Knock Out explained.

"But you said Sting was fine when you checked him over!" Raf said.

"Physically, but the experience he endured seems to be having a temporary effect on his psyche. This induced power down should force Stinger's mind to rest and recover." Knock Out explained.

A beeping noise brought everyone to the main terminal, where it revealed it was a call from agent Silas.

"Megatron! You spot any Autobot wearing hula skirts lately?" Silas asked.

"No, special agent Silas. Why? Megatron asked.

"Cause I was hoping that you'd have a lead on the Bots that busted into the Hawaiian Naval Observatory. Place looked like it was hit by an army of wrecking balls." Silas explained.

"Why would Bots break into an observatory?" Breakdown asked.

"Does the Hoit Niko Gosium ring any bells?" Silas asked.

"The space telescope." Raf realized.

"As of last night, missing its primary lens." Silas informed.

"It's difficult to guess Grimlock's intent without knowing where the lens has been taken." Megatron said.

"Good things the lens has a tracking device." Silas added.

A map of the world was shown as they zoomed in on the Arctic.

"The Arctic? Great, another chance to freeze our spark plugs off." Airachnid said sarcastically.

Starscream whistled as it zoomed in once more on an energon deposit. "That's an ND7class. Biggest unmineable energon deposit there is."

"Unmineable, until Grimlock melts his way down to it." Megatron said.

"With the help of the lens." Knock Out added.

"Melting a glacier that size would cause sea levels to rise and demolish coastal cities." Silas warned.

The Ark flew over the Arctic to the location of the energon deposit.

Grimlock crossed his arms as he looked down and smirked. "Let the reign of King Grimlock begin." He said while Smokescreen signaled an Autobot trooper, on a strange machine, to open fire.

Then the machine began to harvest the sunlight and beamed down a large heat to the glacier, which began to affect the ice. Meanwhile, at base, Raf looked like having a conversation with Stinger.

"So I blow past the finish line. Then my other sister, Pilar, asked how I gotten so good at racing. And I told her I know a guy who knows cars." Raf explained.

"Rafael, I'm afraid Stinger can't hear you in power down mode. It's getting late. Why don't I bridge you back home with your family?" Shockwave offered.

"Because I told Sting I'll stay. He's family too." Raf answered.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're not even the same species." Shockwave added.

"That's being related, it's not the same thing. I'll show you." Raf said as he took out his phone. "This is my family."

Shockwave knelt down to get a closer look. "Hm. Yes, very nice."

"Very large. Sometimes I can shout and no one hears me." Raf emphasized.

"Yes." Shockwave mumbled quietly.

"But Stinger always listens. And I can understand him, I'm not sure why, but I do." Raf explained, causing Shockwave to smile.

Meanwhile, the other Decepticons were on the Arctic, looking for the Autobots.

"Lot different from our last polar visit." Airachnid said observing some ice melting.

"Feels like summer." Starscream added.

The Decepticons reached to an opening when something caught their attention.

"Big energy signal detected in front of us." Soundwave informed.

"Here that's a bad thing." Breakdown said.

They saw their enemies's ship firing its heat beam at the ice.

"So, any idea of how are we going to stop that?" Knock Out asked.

"Decepticons, remember the Autobot's end run on Polihex?" Megatron said.

At the same time, Raf was surfing on the Internet, still next to Stinger.

"Rafael, I'm going to the supply vault to see if I can find parts to repair this." Shockwave said hanging the broken tool. "You know what that means?"

"Don't touch anything." He said.

Just a couple of seconds after Shockwave left, Stinger's optics came back online.

"Wait until you see this new laptop I'm saving up for, Sting." Raf said.

Stinger didn't listen to him as he walked out of the medical chamber.

"Sting? Stinger!" Raf said.

Stinger typed in a set of coordinates and the ground bridge came online.

"Stinger!" Raf cried as Stinger went through the vortex.

In that moment, Shockwave returned.

"What did you do?" Shockwave demanded.

"Nothing! Stinger just got up and…" Raf started to explain.

"He was in power down, it's not logical he managed to get away! Where does he think he's off to?" Shockwave asked to himself.

The ground bridge transported Stinger to the same place where Optimus summoned his undead warriors.

"Where is it? Where?" Optimus said inside Stinger's mind as he looked around and remembered what happened the last time.

Then he saw a purple light on the ground. He grabbed the light's origin: a dark energon shard.

"These are the coordinates for the sight of our previous battle with Optimus's undead." Shockwave observed.

"Maybe we shall call Megatron." Raf suggested.

"Megatron is busy preventing a polar ice cap from melting. We need to handle this on our own." Shockwave said as he activated the ground bridge again.

Just after activated it, Stinger came back from the ground bridge.

"Stinger, what have you been doing?" Shockwave demanded. He grabbed his hand, seeing what he was holding. "Dark energon?"

Then Stinger punched him, sending him back to a wall and causing him to fall unconscious.

"Sting, what are you doing?" Raf asked in shock, right before Stinger picked him up.

"Sting, please! I know you're in there! You have to fight whatever's making you do this!" Raf begged as Stinger put him near the air vent and ran through the ground bridge.

Then Shockwave came back online.

"Shockwave, are you okay?" Raf asked anxiously.

"I'm fine. The more importantly is Stinger. I fear the time he spent in Optimus's mind escape is causing him to think like an Autobot." Shockwave said as he walked to Raf.

"Sting is not a Bot!" Raf said in denial before Shockwave picked him up.

"Agreed. But we need to find out exactly what Stinger intends to do with that shard. The only one who knew of the dark energon…was Optimus Prime." Shockwave realized.

"Stinger has Optimus's memories?" Raf asked in confusion.

"Worse. Optimus is occupying Stinger's mind." Shockwave said.

"What?!" Raf yelled.

"How could I have been such a fool? The cortical psychic patch acted as a two-way conduit. When Stinger returned to his own mind, Optimus followed. And now, Stinger- Optimus has bridge to nearly the same coordinates Megatron used." Shcokwave explained as he pulled the lever and the ground bridge opened once again. "Stay here."

"No, Stinger needs me." Raf said.

Shockwave sighed in defeat. "Of course he does."

Meanwhile, Grimlock was enjoying his moment of glory.

"Yes! I love when a plan comes together!" Grimlock cheered.

Then he heard the sound of engines and saw Breakdown and Knock Out driving and Soundwave, Starscream and Airachnid flying, all in their alternative modes, approaching the Ark.

"Decepticons." Grimlock sneered.

"Please, your highness. Allow your second in command the honor." Smokescreen said as Wheeljack and Bulkhead approached them. "Wreckers, total them!"

"Let's make fun like the old times, Jackie." Bulkhead said crushing his fists together.

"Wrecker style." Wheeljack added.

The two Autobots jumped onto the ship's surface before they began free falling. During the fall, Wheeljack managed to grab Starscream and threw him to the ground and launched a grenade, which exploded near to Soundwave and Airachnid, launching them to the ground; while Bulkhead landed behind Breakdown and Knock Out. The force of the impact sent them flying, but they managed to get into their robot forms and reunited with their comrades, ready to face the enemy. Meanwhile, Megatron was climbing up a glacier that was close to the Ark, because his jet form's engine sound could delated him. Inside the Ark, a ground bridge appeared which Shockwave came through with Raf on his shoulder.

"The Autobot warship." Shockwave realized.

He immediately ran down the hall and saw a trail of dead Autobot troopers.

"Did Stinger do this?" Raf asked.

"I fear Optimus's mind is dominant. And clearly he came here for one logical purpose: to use the dark energon to resurrect his own body." Shockwave deduced.

"No! Stinger won't let him. Like he didn't let Optimus hurt me back at the base!" Raf protested.

"I hope you're right." Shockwave said.

He then put Raf on the ground as they made their way to the medical bay. When they reached there, they saw Stinger connecting the cortical psychic patch to the back of his head as the other side was already connected to Optimus Prime. Shockwave ran towards him, ready to attack.

"Shockwave, don't hurt Stinger!" Raf cried out.

"That's not Stinger!" Shockwave proclaimed as he tried to punch Stinger with his cannon, but he dodged it and punch him to the wall.

Next Stinger put his hand on his hip as he held the dark energon.

"Stinger, no! Remember who you are! Remember me! I know you always listen to me no matter what!" Raf cried to him.

Then Stinger began to slowly regain control of his body.

"( **Raf, is that you?** )" Stinger beeped.

"That's right, Sting! It's me!" Raf encourage.

That made Optimus angrier.

"Unbelievable!" Optimus said.

Stinger clutched his head around and cried out in pain as he fell to the floor, with Raf besides him. Optimus took control again and pushed Raf aside and he skidded on the floor. Stinger turned around to see Shockwave clutching onto Optimus's life support cable.

"Farewell, Prime." Shockwave sneered before shooting his cannon at the cable.

Stinger grabbed Shockwave's hand and threw him to the wall, making him fell unconscious.

"Stinger!" Raf cried.

Stinger stopped at the sound of his voice and turned around. He held the dark energon in his hand and glared at Raf.

"Stinger can't hear you anymore." Stinger said, with the voice of Optimus Prime.

"As much as I want you to leave Stinger's body, I can't let you go back to your own!" Raf declared as he grabbed the patch cable.

He kept swinging around on it until Stinger made a sharp turn and Raf was sent flying. Then Stinger walked towards Optimus's body and drove the shard into his chest. The shard melted into his chest and Optimus's eyes snapped opened. Stinger shook his head as Shockwave regained consciousness. They backed away in fear as Optimus Prime got up from the birth. A group of Autobot commandos ran into the medical bay and were shocked to what they saw.

"Can anyone tell me what it is going on here? Ah!" Elita One said, coming with the other Autobots and staying shocked too to see Optimus alive.

"Autobots! Your rightful lord and master has returned!" Optimus declared.

"Optimus! I'm so glad to see you totally recovered!" Elita said as she hugged Prime.

"I'm so sorry for not been here when you arrived, as I promised. But I'm back now, and I'm so glad to stay with you again, my dear." Optimus said returning the hug.

"Me too, my love." She responded.

"But right now, there is something I need to resolve before everything can get ruined. Take me to Grimlock." Optimus said, breaking the hug, as she nodded.

The Decepticons looked at Optimus in shock as he glared at them.

"Finish these pests! I have my own extermination to perform." Optimus ordered to the commandos before he went out with Elita One.

The Autobots fired their weapons at the Decepticons. Shockwave managed to grab Raf while he and Stinger fired back against the Autobots.

"( **Maybe it's time to get out of here.** )" Stinger said as they run.

Megatron finally reached to the top of the glacier and looked to the Ark. He transformed and flew to the ship's top. Meanwhile on the land, Wheeljack managed to kick Starscream and Knock Out, but Soundwave was good enough to block his swords and counterattack him. Airachnid jumped over Bulkhead and tried to trap him with his webs, but he managed to grab them and threw her. Now he was running towards Breakdown and transformed his hand into a wrecking ball.

"I'm gonna put you on ice." Bulkhead threatened.

Breakdown let out a battle cry as his hammer and Bulkhead's wrecking ball collided, causing the ice to split in two.

"Don't the Cons seem…understaffed?" Smokescreeen asked as he and Grimlock watched the battle on the Ark.

Then they heard an engine noise from behind them, and they saw Megatron approaching them in his vehicle form.

"What good is a second in command who fails to watch the rear?" Grimlock shouted at Smokescreen.

He walked towards the cannon and grabbed it with his both hands and redirected the beam against Megatron. But he managed to evade it, returned back to his robot form and activated his sword.

"NO!" Grimlock shouted as Megatron sliced off the lens, making the weapon explode.

The force sent both Wreckers and Decepticons flying a few meters into the snow.

"Lord Megatron!" Starscream called out.

They all looked down to see Megatron deep in the snow. Suddenly, they heard a roar coming from the Ark, and they saw Grimlock in his dinosaur form landing and charging towards Megatron.

"Optimus's greatest mistake was ever allowing you to live, Megatron!" Grimlock roared as he prepared his jaws.

But just before Grimlock reached to Megatron, a familiar truck crushed him and takes him back to the Ark.

"Optimus." Megatron observed.

"He's back." Airachnid added.

Grimlock was thrown onto the ship's top in his robot form. He saw Elita One, with a very angry face and behind him the truck which turned into the Autobot leader.

"Optimus Prime." Grimlock said in shock. "You are… you are healed! Praise the Allspark, It is a miracle!" Grimlock said, trying to change the situation.

"Oh, it will be a miracle alright, Grimlock. If you survive what my sparkmate have planned for you!" Elita One growled as Optimus approached him angered.

Grimlock changed to his T-Rex form trying to escape, but Optimus grabbed him by the tail. He spun around a couple of times before he threw Grimlock to the other side of the top.

"But the Decepticons! Megatron! Right there, waiting for you!" Grimlock said weakened as Optimus approached him.

"My greatest mistake? I've a few, but there is one I don't intent to make again!" Optimus proclaimed as he and Elita One grabbed Grimlock by his legs and dragged him away.

"No, master! NO!" Grimlock begged.

The Decepticons looked how the Ark went away, but at last the mission was a success.

"Shockwave, we need a bridge." Megatron said through the com-link.

"You are not the only ones." A voice said.

They turned around to see Shockwave and Stinger with Raf waving a hand on Stinger's shoulder.

"Soundwave, you better try your special ability right now." Starscream proposed.

"Afirmative." Soundwave nodded as he summoned a ground bridge by himself.

Some moments later, everyone was at base while Knock Out ran a thorough scan on Stinger in the medical chamber.

"Everything's back to normal." Knock Out proclaimed.

"( **Seriously?** )" Stinger asked.

"Well, normal for Stinger." Knock Out corrected.

Raf walked up to Stinger as he knelt down. "( **Raf, I'm sorry for what happened.** )"

"It's okay." Raf said.

"( **Were you scared?** )"

"Of course I was." Raf answered.

"( **I never meant to hurt you like that.** )"

"I know." Raf smiled.

"( **Thanks for being there for me, Raf.** )" Stinger said as he held his finger and Raf touched it.

"What he said?" Miko asked.

"He said thanks." Raf answered.

Now the team was complete again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen- Shadowzone**

Inside the Ark, Grimlock was lying on a berth in the medical bay, hooked up to a bunch of cables, groaning in pain from his wounds. He heard footsteps and his optics opened to see Optimus Prime.

"Resting comfortably, Grimlock? Despite the extent of your injuries, my medical staff assures me that you shall make a rapid recovery." Optimus said with an angered look on his face.

"Hopefully every bit as rapid as your wrath is swift." Grimlock said before coughed lightly.

That made Optimus chuckle. "And how swiftly things change; to think that but a short time ago it was you who was standing here while I was lying there, right after your failed attempt to terminate me. But know this, dear Grimlock, our positions shall never be reversed." Optimus concluded as he left the medical bay.

Grimlock simply groaned as he ripped the cables from his chest. Ratchet was currently checking a data pad as Grimlock limped out of the room.

"Grimlock! Have you lost your senses? You haven't fully recuperated!" Ratchet shouted.

"I feel fine, Ratchet! Never better! You're a brilliant physician now get out of my way!" Grimlock demanded as he pushed Ratchet out of the way and limped down the hall while holding his chest. "Dark energon may have replenished your strength, master. But how could you forget that you never reclaimed your original shard?"

He went to a certain support on the wall and took a dark energon shard. This was the same one that he took from Optimus's chest when he was dying.

"Once the Blood of Unicron flows through my veins, our positions shall be reversed." Grimlock proclaimed.

At the next day, everyone was doing their normal routine, until Soundwave detected something and called everyone at the main hall.

"Strange energy signal detected." Soundwave reported as he showed it on the screen.

"I had hoped that my growing expertise on the subject would remain purely academic. But though faint, this is clearly a dark energon signature." Shockwave explained.

"And it's moving fast." Knock Out added.

"Optimus." Megatron said.

"Where'd he find more of the bad stuff?" Airachnid asked.

"And what's he going to do with it? Recruit a new army of the undead?" Breakdown added.

"Zombie Bots?" Miko asked in excitement as she heard the conversation.

"We cannot rule out the possibility. Especially since Optimus seems to be heading to a familiar sight." Megatron said looking at the screen.

The place where they detected the signal it was the same canyon where they battle against the Autobot Causeway. But it was not Optimus Prime who was heading through the canyon. It was Grimlock in his T-Rex mode. He transformed when he reached to a bunch of rocks.

"Ah, the gravesite of the mighty Causeway. So quick to reject my authority while you lived. But as the first of my reanimated warriors, you shall bow to my command." Grimlock announced as he broke the shard in two and threw one part into the grave.

It fell into one of the cracks and began to glow. Then he stabbed himself with the other half of the shard.

"Yes! Power of dark energon, be mine! Grimlock smirked as he was glowing purple flames. "Symbiosis! I can feel it!"

At the same time, on the Decepticon base…

"Optimus has barely emerged from stasis, and it seems he's already making up for lost time. Starscream, Stinger, Shockwave, Breakdown, Knock Out, prepare to rise up!" Megatron ordered.

"Me?" Shockwave asked.

"If we are dealing with dark energon, I may well require your expertise." Megatron said. "Soundwave, Airachnid?"

"Bridge operators, got it." Airachnid answered as Soundwave began to prepare the ground bridge.

"Got get' em Breakdown! Bring the hurt!" Miko said from the couch, he responding by crushing his fists.

Jack and Raf looked Miko with superstition as she continued drawing.

"That's not like Miko not to wanna go." Jack said.

"She's definitely up to something." Raf added.

Airachnid activated the ground bridge as the Decepticons transformed into their alt forms and went through the vortex. Miko suddenly smirked as she threw her stuff on the couch and ran towards the ground bridge.

"Making a break!" Jack said as he and Raf ran after her.

Miko jumped down multiple stairs before she made her way into her way to the tunnel, with Airachnid and Soundwave without noticed that. Before she went all the way through, Jack grabbed her by the arm.

"It's not safe!" Jack told her.

"I'm not going to miss my first zombie Bot throw down!" She retorted as she pulled her arm from Jack's grip.

As she ran through the portal, her phone fell out of her pocket. The others followed her without hesitation before the ground bridge closed behind them. The vortex opened inside the canyon and the Decepticons drove out and returned back to their robot forms. Miko followed them, climbing up a rock hill to get a good view of everything.

"That's not Prime!" Breakdown realized.

"Rise, Causeway! Rise!" Grimlock ordered, making the tomb crumble.

"Let's see some fight of the living dead already!" Miko yelled in excitement from the hill.

"Miko, what were you thinking?!" Jack yelled.

"She wasn't." Raf informed.

"Hey, I totally missed out last time! This could be my only chance to take some snaps. And more better if I can see a robotic dinosaur for the first time!" Miko said.

She reached for her pocket to take out her cell phone, only to find out it wasn't there. She got up and looked around for her cell phone while feeling her other pockets.

"My cell phone. I must have dropped it back at base!" Miko realized.

At the same moment, the Decepticons reached to Grimlock.

"Grimlock!" Megatron said as he pulled out his cannon.

"Decepticons!" Grimlock cursed.

"Stand down!" Megatron ordered.

"You stand down!" Grimlock retorted as he pulled out and fired his nucleon shock cannon, making the Decepticons to take cover. "Jajaja, you cannot harm me while dark energon flows through my veins. I am invincible!" Grimlock proclaimed proudly while his eyes turned purple.

Before he could fire again, Starscream fired a missile to Grimlock and he cried out in pain as the bottom of his arm flew to the ground. Grimlock gasped in horror as he looked at his remaining arm, so he immediately grabbed his lower arm and hid behind a rock.

"You clipped his leg, nice shot." Knock Out said.

"Now he can't change to his alternative form." Shockwave observed.

This allowed the Decepticons to get out to their covers and charged towards Grimlock.

"Come on, come on! Rise already!" Grimlock yelled impatiently, but when he saw his enemies getting closer he realized it was time to leave. "This is general Grimlock, requesting emergency ground bridge to my coordinates."

The Decepticons were almost at him when…

"I can't believe you made me lose my phone!" Miko yelled.

Everyone turned around to see Jack, Miko and Raf on the pile of rocks.

"How is this my fault?" Jack retorted.

"Oh no." Knock Out said.

"Base to Megatron, the kids are missing." Airachnid reported.

"We have a visual. Send the ground bridge immediately." Megatron informed.

At that moment, two ground bridge portals appeared, one near to the kids and the other one next to Grimlock.

"Two?" Starscream asked in surprise. "You three, into our ground bridge! Now!"

"Come on." Jack said as he grabbed Miko's arm, making her groaning in frustration as they ran to the ground bridge.

Megatron saw Grimlock jump into his ground bridge at the same time when the kids got inside the other. Suddenly, the ground bridges began to whirr uncontrollably.

"Shockwave, what is happening?" Megatron asked.

"The dueling ground bridge portals must be feeding back on each other." Shockwave answered.

"Miko. We've got to get the kids out of there." Breakdown said alarmed.

Breakdown ran towards the ground bridge, but when he got there, it exploded, sending him flying. Next, another explosion of the two portals sent everyone off of their feet and surrounding the area in smoke and dust. One of the portals sent Grimlock back to the Ark.

"My arm!" He shouted as he saw it wasn't there.

He looked to see an Autobot flyer staring at him confused. "Not a word about this! To anyone!" Grimlock told him before walking down the hallway and ripped the dark energon shard from his chest.

In the canyon, the smoke cleared and the kids slowly got up.

"Are you guys okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Raf answered.

They heard more groaning as they looked around to see the Decepticons stand up.

"What just happened?" Knock Out asked.

"I can't be certain. But the only logical explanation is that if two ground bridges sent to the same coordinates cross streams, the feedback could've triggered a system overload." Shockwave explained.

"Could? Hello, more like totally did!" Miko retorted.

"The kids make it through, right?" Breakdown asked.

"Huh?" Raf asked.

"What he's talking about?" Jack asked too.

"Breakdown, we're right here!" Miko cried.

"Soundwave, did the children make it safely back to base?" Megatron asked through his com-link.

"Negative." Soundwave answered.

"You don't see them?" Airachnid asked.

"No sign." Starscream informed.

"What, no sign?! Okay, seriously Breaky?" Miko yelled.

Breakdown began to walk towards Miko without noticing her. She screamed and braced herself, but Breakdown's foot went right through her. She stumbled backwards into Jack's arms.

"He went right through you. We're not alive." Jack said.

"I don't want to be a ghost!" Raf screeched hugging Jack.

"Wait. How can we still touch each other?" Jack observed.

The Decepticons began to move, so the children followed them.

"Shockwave, could the children have been transported onto the Ark instead?" Megatron asked.

"Not likely, if Grimlock didn't arrive at our base. The most likely explanation is a dislocation; the children may have simply been bridged to an unintended destination." Shockwave explained.

"Another place but in the same place." Raf though aloud.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"We're probably in a different dimension. Some kind of alternative reality. A shadowzone." Raf explained.

"Nerd alert." Miko remarked.

"Look. Causeway's tomb is empty." Starscream said.

"How we missed Causeway rising and shining?" Knock Out said.

"It would seem Grimlock got what he came for." Shockwave said.

"Another matter for another time. Right now our priority is locating Jack, Miko and Rafael. Soundwave, bridge us back to base." Megatron proclaimed.

A giant shadow cast over the children: it was Causeway now turned into a Terrorbot. And it was making his way for the Decepticons.

"Zombie!" Miko yelled as they all started running.

"Guys, look out!" Jack called out.

"Breakdown!" Miko yelled.

"It's right behind you!" Raf cried out.

Causeway tried to strike with her claw at Breakdown, but her hand went right through him. The kids watched the Decepticons go through the ground bridge without a scratch.

"Awesome! It can't touch them either." Miko cheered.

But then the undead turned its head to the children and began walking toward them.

"If that thing can't touch the Cons." Jack began.

"Just like we can't." Miko continued.

"Then we're trapped in the shadowzone with an Autobot zombie?" Raf finished.

"If we aren't ghosts now, we will be soon." Miko squeaked.

Causeway roared in front of them, giving them time to put some distance between them and the zombie. But suddenly Raf tripped and his glasses flew off. Jack immediately ran back, grabbed him and pulled him to safety.

"Come on." Jack said.

"Jack, my glasses!" Raf cried.

Jack saw the glasses on the ground, but Causeway wasn't too far away.

"Way too dangerous." Jack said.

"I can't see without them!" Raf told them.

"What are you? 90?" Miko said.

"Not helping." Jack told her.

"Fine." Miko said before running at them.

"Miko, wait!" Jack cried.

Miko managed to reach to the glasses, but the zombie was about to stomp her. But she managed to evade it in the last moment.

"Hoo-yah!" She cheered up herself before went back to the others.

"Here you go, gramps! Let's book!" She told them before they continued running away from the Terrorbot.

"Maybe we could set a trap. Try to crush it." Miko proposed.

"With what? Nothing around here's solid except us and the ground!" Raf reminded her.

"We can't run forever, but maybe we can hide." Miko proposed again.

Meanwhile, at the Decepticon base…

"Shockwave, if the children were misdirected to an unintended location, is there any way to get a fix on their coordinates?" Megatron asked slightly anxious.

"If they were lost, Miko would have called me by now." Breakdown told them.

"( **Why not call them?** )" Stinger suggested.

"Call them! Yes!" Breakdown said as he activated his com-link.

Suddenly, a metal music filled the room as everyone looked around to see where it was. Knock Out walked over to the ground bridge and saw Miko's phone on the floor.

"That's why Miko hasn't phone." Knock Out groaned as he pickets it.

"Let me try Jack." Airachnid immediately suggested.

In that moment, the kids were panting as they stopped running from Causeway.

"The best thing about zombies: they're slow moving." Miko remarked.

Then everyone heard music coming from Jack's pocket.

"Is that your…" Raf began.

"Phone!" Everyone realized.

Jack grabbed it and answered. "Hello? Airachnid?"

In base…

"Jack?! Can you hear me?!" Airachnid asked with worry before she lost connection. "Nothing."

That happened in the shadowzone too.

"Hello? Airachnid!" Jack yelled into the phone before groaning and hanging up. "Nothing."

"Gee, imagine that. The fourth dimension has lousy cell phone reception." Miko remarked sarcastically.

"Wait, guys. Guys, the phone rang. We're getting a signal." Jack pointed out.

"Maybe the Decepticons can't see or hear us because we're moving at hyper speed or something." Raf suggested.

"Do you think they can read us?" Jack asked.

"Texting!" Raf exclaimed.

"Text me! If my phone's back at the base, maybe they'll see it!" Miko exclaimed.

Jack began to text Miko's phone, but right then Causeway appeared.

"Can you type and run?" Raf asked.

They managed to avoid the Terrorbot going through its legs and continuing running. Meanwhile, at base…

"We're dealing with fluctuating energy profiles inside a wide distortion field. But it may be possible to back-trace their coordinates." Shockwave explained.

Miko's phone began flashing and vibrating behind them, which no one seemed to notice. The kids were still running from Causeway.

"Déja vu!" Miko observed.

"What?" Jack asked.

"This doesn't look familiar to you?" Miko asked.

"Not really." Jack answered.

"Dude, we just ran one big circle!" Miko yelled.

Suddenly, the kids slammed into a hard metal and fell into the ground. When they got up they saw it was Grimlock's arm.

"Sweet." Miko said.

"Whoa." Jack said impressed.

"It must have gotten trapped near during the explosion too." Raf deduced.

They heard Causeway coming at them.

"Well, if it's solid, we can use it." Jack said.

At the same time, Grimlock was again in the Ark's medical bay.

"Uh…Grimlock, I don't quite understand how this could've happened." Wheeljack confessed.

"And yet it did! Can you imagine my horror? There I am! Minding my own business when my arm just falls off! Clearly, Optimus inflicted more damage on me then you realize! Doctor…" Grimlock growled dangerously.

"Well…on the bright side. This provides an excellent opportunity for an upgrade." Wheeljack said as he showed on the screen different models. "Uh…let's see. You can go with the sonic cannon; it's reliable, low-maintenance. Although, it lacks a certain flair. Personally, I prefer the null ray, has just the right mix of flash and fire power."

"I don't want a new model! I just want the same arm I had before!" Grimlock snapped.

"But Grimlock, your equipment is a bit…obsolete. I'm not sure I have another one lying around. Of course, we could try to salvage yours. You'd get it, did you?" Wheeljack concluded.

"It was…beyond recovery." Grimlock answered.

Grimlock's arm was being moved by the children in order to use its weapon to strike against the undead.

"Anyone knows how to fire this thing? I don't see a trigger." Miko said as she searched the cannon.

"Maybe if we hit the cannon we can make it fire." Raf suggested.

They saw Causeway approaching them, so they got into position.

"We have one shot. We have to make it count." Jack proclaimed.

Once the Terrorbot was close enough, the kids hit the cannon, making it firing and hit it.

"How do you like us now?" Miko smirked.

But the zombie was still alive. The hit only damaged its arm, which fall off to the ground. They looked closely to the arm, and for their horror, the arm's fingers twitched and the arm began moving on its own, running towards them.

"Come on, come on!" Jack ordered as they started to run again.

"How can the zombie arm move faster than the actual zombie?" Miko asked as the arm continued chasing them by the rocks.

Inside base, finally someone noticed Miko's phone.

"Miko's phone. It wasn't blinking before." Breakdown said before opening the phone with his finger. "It's a message. In alternate dimension with zombie. Help!"

"That doesn't sound possible." Knock Out said.

"Soundwave, can we triangulate the geographical position of the cellphone's signal?" Megatron asked.

"In a parallel dimensional plane?!" Starscream asked in disbelief.

"Hard, but not impossible." Soundwave said.

"Let's find out." Shockwave added.

Grimlock was still lying down on the berth in the medical bay when the dark energon shard started to glowing in his hand.

"My dark energon shard, pulsing? My warrior lives!" Grimlock proclaimed.

"Ah, look what I found in storage." Wheeljack said entering with an arm very similar to Grimlock's. "What are you doing?" He asked as Grimlock walked out of the medical bay.

"You were right, Wheeljack. I'm much too attached to my original appendage. I will retreat it." Grimlock decided before walking away.

At the Decepticon base…

"By calculating the relative time delays and ion aspheric distortions, the signal emanated from the exact location as the original ground bridge coordinates." Shockwave reported.

"But we already looked for them there!" Breakdown objected.

"Perhaps. But not in the correct dimensional phase as their message stated. But if I can recreate the feedback loop which triggered the event, I might be able to generate a rescue portal, allowing passage from their dimension…" Shockwave explained.

"Back to base?" Knock Out interrupted.

"No! We're talking about inter-dimensional travel here, Knock Out! Attempting to redirect the vortex trajectory would be far too risky!" Shockwave retorted.

"Everyone knows that." Airachnid piped in.

"If the coordinates aren't precisely the same, who knows where the humans could wind up!" Starscream snapped.

The kids ran a lot again, but they reached where Grimlock's arm was again.

"Come on! This place is like one big merry-go-round!" Miko moaned.

"Causeway! Your master summons you!" Grimlock said coming in front of the kids.

"How did that freak get in our dimension?" Miko asked in fear.

"He didn't. He can't see us." Jack deduced.

"Forget Grimlock! We have to run…some more." Miko said as they saw Causeway's arm coming.

They ran again, until a ground bridge appeared in front of them, but Grimlock saw it too.

"A ground bridge portal?" Raf asked.

"That has to be our way out of here." Jack said.

"The Decepticons saw our text!" Miko cheered.

"What? Mine or theirs?" Grimlock asked as he observed the portal.

"If we go through, we run smack into Grimlock!" Raf pointed out. "If we don't…"

"We're zombie chow." Jack finished as the zombie's arm was getting closer.

"Option three: we keep running in circles." Miko piped in.

"Follow my lead." Jack instructed.

They all got into a standing position as they looked back to see Causeway's arm getting closer. Miko began to panic as she looked at Jack.

"Now!" Jack ordered.

The kids jumped through the portal and ran past Grimlock.

"Humans?" Grimlock gasped in surprise. "Where did you vermin…"

Before the portal closed, the zombie's hand grabbed Grimlock's head, making him fall to the ground.

"This isn't mine! Unhand me!" Grimlock cried holding the arm.

As the kids continued running, another ground bridge opened, and Megatron, Breakdown and Airachnid came out.

"Jack, Miko, Rafael." Megatron greeted.

"Decepticons again?!" Grimlock screeched as he threw Causeway's arm aside. "Requesting emergency ground bridge, now!" He said through his com-link as he made his stand against the arm.

Finally everyone was in home.

"Look. If you're gonna blame anybody, blame me." Miko said to everyone.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that? A couple dozen times?" Jack smirked, causing Miko to glare at him.

"Miko, what you endured has been lesson enough. We are just glad you are all safe." Megatron smiled.

"I guess it was a good thing you dropped this." Knock Out said as he help up Miko's cell phone.

"Too bad you didn't get any pictures though." Breakdown said.

"Nah, that's okay. I think that after today, I pretty much have zombie close-ups pierced into my brain." Miko remarked.

Not the same situation for Grimlock.

"What happened? Prime pounded you like scrap metal again?" Wheejack said as he began repairing Grimlock's arm.

"I'd rather not discuss it!" Grimlock shouted.

"Honestly, Grimlock, you need to take better care of yourself. Didn't you retrieve your limb?" Wheeljack asked, making Grimlock groan.

Inside the shadowzone, zombie Causeway found Grimlock's arm. She picked it up and tried if it would replace his arm, but it was too big, so he threw it and continues walking.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen- Kidnaped**

It was night in an abandoned town in Russia. Everything was calm and quiet, until some tremors began to shake the area. Then Breakdown crashed into an old building. The responsible of this was Bulkhead, his eternal rival.

"Breakdown, imagine you and I bumping into each other in the middle of nowhere while tracking a stray energon signal." Bulkhead said.

"Yeah, Bulkhead. It must be your lucky day!" Breakdown said as he charged at him.

Both titans grabbed each other's hand and tried to knock each other down.

"Where is your pet human? How about when I'm finished with you, I pay her a visit?" Bulkhead suggested.

Breakdown yelled as he knocked Bulkhead to the ground.

"So, the Stunticon's got a soft spot." Bulkhead smirked.

Breakdown changed his hand into a hammer and tried to hit Bulkhead, but he rolled out of the way at the last second. He got up and swung his wrecking ball at Breakdown, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. Bulkhead put his wrecking ball next to Breakdown's head.

"As much as I'll miss our little reunions, it's blasting time!" Bulkhead said raising his weapon, ready to give the final blow.

But in the last moment, an electric shot hit him at the chest, knocking him down. Breakdown looked up to the sky to see a yellow with orange touches Mil Mi 24 combat helicopter, but he went off before he could identify it. That helicopter landed near to them and met with a cybertronian jet/helicopter and an orange with purple touches Hummer H2 2003, which transformed into a cybertronian very similar to Ratchet; the helicopter transformed into a heavy armed cybertronian. Both robots bowed to Thundertron, revealing to be Star Seekers. A lot of Star Seekers flyers landed and surrounded the unconscious bots aiming their weapons at them.

"It does not seem so hard from close." The helicopter bot said.

"Do not rely so much, Sandstorm. They can go online very soon." The other bot corrected.

"Good observation, Cannonball." Thundertron said observing the two combatants.

"Sir, we only have the resources to transport one." Cannonball informed.

"Take the victor." Thundertron responded.

After a couple of minutes, Breakdown came back online, hearing a familiar voice through the com-link.

"Marco. Marco. Marco!" The voice said.

"Miko." Breakdown groaned.

She groaned. "You're supposed to say Polo."

Breakdown got up with his fist ready for more fighting, but now he was alone, and Bulkhead was missing.

"Miko, let Soundwave know I need a ground bridge." Breakdown requested.

Moments later, Breakdown was at base while Knock Out was fixing him.

"Engaging the enemy on your own was foolish, Breakdown." Starscream scolded.

"Bulkhead jumped me! I knew I could take him." Breakdown retorted as he groaned by the pain.

"Stay still, buddy." Knock Out said continuing fixing.

"But we should see the other guy! Right, Breaky?" Miko asked with excitement.

"Uh…yeah. About that." Breakdown began.

"You didn't torch him?" Miko exclaimed.

"Not exactly. I figure you all did." Breakdown confessed.

"Oh." Miko said in disappointment.

"When I came to, Bulkhead was just gone. I remember hearing a copter. Maybe it was agent Silas." Breakdown explained.

"Not me." Silas said as he walked in from the elevator. "But I have an idea who. Show me where this Bot-napping occurred."

That thing was noticed too on the Ark.

"Optimus Prime, I fear Bulkhead has gone missing." Bumblebee reported.

"The Decepticons?" Optimus asked.

"According with surveillance provided by the astonishingly accurate, Blaster. Bulkhead was abducted by other unidentified cybertronians." Bee said.

"What do you mean by unidentified cybertronians?" Optimus asked interested.

"Not anymore. Blaster has scanned the common emblem of lot of those troops, and it seems they are Star Seekers." Ratchet explained.

"Thundertron. So those miserable assassins have decided to stand in our way." Optimus said angered. "What is your point?"

"I say we go on a rescue mission to hunt the vermin responsible for this outrage. No one mess with the Wreckers." Wheeljack proposed as he pulled out his swords.

"Bulkhead is on his own." Optimus simply said.

"Master?" Bee asked.

"If Bulkhead allowed himself to be captured by those traitors and criminals, he deserves whatever fate awaits him." Optimus declared.

"I understand, master." Bumblebee said in defeat.

"But Bulkhead is one of our most important warriors! A key player in our…" Wheeljack objected until Optimus gave him a cold glare. He was going to say other thing when Grimlock put a hand in front of him and winked at him.

"Your wisdom reigns supreme, Optimus Prime. For now." Grimlock said as he left the bridge.

Meanwhile, Bulkhead groaned as he opened his optics.

"What?" He said when he looked drills and other machines surrounding him.

He tried to move, but he saw metal braces on his hands and feet preventing him from moving at all. Then from a big hole, Thundertron, Cannonball, Brimstone and a couple of Star Seeker troopers entered the room, next to a bunch of computers.

"Thundertron?" Bulkhead said surprised.

"Resting comfortable, Autobot?" Thundertron said.

"Release me now and I will let you live!" Bulkhead yelled.

"You are not in a position to require me anything. Besides, I'm afraid you are far too valuable to us." Thundertron informed him.

"Optimus Prime will never pay a ransom." Bulkhead laughed.

"Oh, you misunderstand. We don't want a ransom. What we want is vengeance, on you." Thundertron said sinisterly.

In the Decepticon base, Soundwave showed on the screen where Breakdown had been.

"This is where we picked up Breakdown." Soundwave said.

"The Kamchatka peninsula in Eastern Russia, much of it was abandoned 20 years ago when its volcano first erupted. My Intel reported unknown cybertronian activity there earlier today. And it wasn't the Autobots." Silas explained.

"Then they can only be the Star Seekers." Knock Out deduced.

"The Star Seekers? You mean those cybertronian pirates?" Miko asked.

"The very ones who are present on your planet besides us and the Autobots." Starscream added.

"They must have tracked one of us there." Breakdown said.

"But what would they want with Bulkhead?" Miko asked.

"What's it matter? They can have him." Airachnid scoffed.

"( **Who'd expect that such a tough Autobot would be dragged off by pirates?** )" Stinger said.

"Yeah. Dragged off by pirates. Guess I softened him up for them." Breakdown smirked.

"Yeah." Miko mumbled.

"Soundwave, reactivate the previous ground bridge coordinates. We will rescue Bulkhead." Megatron proclaimed.

"What?" Starscream spluttered.

"Lord Megatron, you can't be serious." Shockwave objected.

"Are you mad?" Airachnid asked in disbelief.

"( **I don't think so.** )" Stinger added.

"Thundertron can melt him down for all I care. Let the Bots rescue their own." Knock Out agreed.

"It is unlikely that Optimus would bother with an errand of mercy." Megatron said.

"Okay…but this is Bulkhead we're talking about." Airachnid reminded.

"Sometimes, we must rise about ourselves for the greater good." Megatron recited.

"Aw, what's that supposed to mean? Bulkhead's gonna be grateful and go all soft and join the cause?" Breakdown scoffed.

"While it is unlikely that any Autobot will choose the path of good, even they possess the potential for change." Megatron said.

"I knew where this was headed!" Breakdown groaned.

"By greater good, I meant humankind. The Star Seekers presents a clear and present danger, by their lust for revenge." Megatron said.

"Megatron's right, two-ton. We know that those pirates do not care how many lives they can destroy." Silas piped in.

"Which means we cannot allow them to gain any advantage or to discover any of our weaknesses." Megatron proclaimed.

Inside the Star Seeker's hideout, Bulkhead was still trying to get free in front of his grabbers.

"If you think I'm going to pray for mercy, forget it! Whatever that kind of torture you have, I will take it." Bulkhead said.

"Full disclosure: we intend to pull you apart. Break you down, if you will. And we will utilize whatever we discover to develop new generation of cybertronian warfare methods." Thundertron said as he snapped his fingers.

Cannonball came closer to Bulkhead.

"I'm afraid that you won't survive the process. So thank you in advance for your sacrifice. The Star Seekers are very much in your debt." Thundertron thanked as he walked next to Bulkhead.

"You are making a very big mistake, pirate captain. When I'm finished with you, they'll have to scrape you off the floor!" Bulkhead yelled ominously.

"Scanning complete, captain." Brimstone said from the computers.

"Since you evidently aren't squeamish, I'll allow you to watch. Are his pain receptors activated?" Thundertron asked.

"Yes. You want me to disable them?" Cannonball asked.

"No. I want him to feel all the pain. Fortunately he won't make as much noise. Open him up." Thundertron ordered.

Cannonball changed his hand into a drill and was pulling it near to Bulkhead's face, and before he knew it he began to scream. As for Breakdown, he decided to not go with the team on the rescue mission.

"Come on, Breaky! You gotta go with!" Miko pleaded.

"Don't wanna!" Breakdown grumbled.

"Breakdown." Megatron started.

"My liege, I'm sorry. I just can't do it." Breakdown apologized.

"I support your choice." Megatron said.

"What?" Breakdown and Miko asked in shock.

"Given your history with Bulkhead, your judgment may be clouded. And thus jeopardize the mission." Megatron explained.

"Besides, is more logical that the Autobot may be in more need of a medic and a scientist then another warrior." Shockwave said as he and the other Decepticons approached the portal.

"Locked and loaded, Megatron." Knock Out informed.

"Decepticons, rise up." Megatron instructed.

All the team transformed and went through the portal before it closed.

"Fine, happy hunting." Breakdown grumbled.

He heard Miko groaned and he looked at her with slight sadness.

"Uh…what do you say? Creature double feature?" Breakdown proposed.

"Sure." Miko said dully.

"Hum, maybe I can take a break." Silas said joining them.

It was the middle of the night in Russia as the ground bridge opened and the Decepticons emerged and transformed, with their weapons ready.

"No signs of life. Human or cybertronian." Megatron observed.

"( **I found tracks. They probably hauled Bulkhead that way.** )" Stinger said.

"Forget the tracks, Stinger. I'm picking up a faint energon signal three clicks north-by-northwest." Knock Out informed.

"Bulkhead." Starscream said.

"But we shouldn't be getting a reading unless…" Airachnid began.

"His energon's been spilled." Shockwave finished.

Meanwhile, inside the base the remaining members were watching a kaiju movie. But Silas was sleeping on the coach, while Breakdown was watching the movie. But he wasn't happy because Miko was not seeing the movie.

"Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra vs Gigan, Destoroyah and Mecha-King Ghidorah. You're missing the smack down." Breakdown told her.

"No, you're missing the smack down." Miko retorted.

"Huh?"

"What stinks because Bulkhead's your arch enemy. Not Megatron's, and definitely not Star Seekers's." Miko proclaimed.

Breakdown sighed. "Miko, you don't understand. Bulkhead and me; we go away back. You have no idea the things he's done. I am not rescuing him, okay? Not now! Not ever!"

"Duh! You don't need to bromance him, Breaky! You just need to beat him!" Miko retorted.

"Uh what?" Breakdown asked confused.

"No rescue, no rematch." Miko winked.

Breakdown widened his eyes in realization and looked at the ground bridge. Moment later, he transported himself to Russia and looked around. Then he saw the tracks and changed to his vehicle form and followed the trail. The other Decepticons were still looking the energon signal, which was getting closer.

"This way." Soundwave said tracking the signal.

They arrived at a mansion. They approached slowly and high alert as the signal was becoming closer.

"Reading's coming from right…here." Soundwave said as everyone looked at the fountain, where there was something.

"A piece of Bulkhead's armor." Knock Out said.

Everyone began to think the worst. Far from there, a green car was driving in one direction. But he didn't go unnoticed for someone.

"A Star Seeker." Breakdown said hidden.

He saw the car getting inside into a tunnel. He followed it and before entering the tunnel he activated his shoulder turret. Meanwhile, the other Decepticons were trying to get more clues.

"What're you doing?" Airachnid asked as Shockwave put the armor piece into the energon tracker.

"The armor's sensors might have retained what the final feelings detected, which I can modify it to turn it into images." Shockwave explained.

The images show the armor piece focused on the drill as it was coming at it.

"What do you know? Weird science wins again." Knock Out remarked.

The drill took out the piece and the next thing they saw was the screen changing into static, only to display a live feed of Thundertron and in the background was Bulkhead being operated.

"Well, well, Megatron. A pleasure to set eyes on you again." Thundertron greeted from the screen.

"He's converted the armor's sensors to a two-way feed." Shockwave informed.

"It has been a while, Thundertron." Megatron said.

"Indeed. But being that our captive is not one of yours, I have to admit. I was expecting Optimus Prime." Thundertron said.

"In this circumstance, Autobots and Decepticons share a common foe." Megatron proclaimed.

"The Star Seekers are anything but common. Our guest is yielding quite a bit of information about our biomechanics as you can see, in a more deep way. Although, Bulkhead himself can't see so well right now, he's very busy experimenting great pain." Thundertron said.

"We don't fear you." Starscream sneered.

"Oh, but you should. In fact, I would strongly urge that you not stand your ground." Thundertron advised.

They all looked up at the fountain to see a bomb placed near it counting down from ten.

"It's a trap!" Starscream realized.

"Would this be a rise up kind of trap?" Knock Out asked.

"Evacuate now!" Megatron ordered.

All the Decepticons transformed to get away from the bomb. When the bomb reached to zero, the explosion force sent the Decepticons flying back, but they transformed and landed on their feet.

"So, any idea where they're keeping the rest of Bulkhead?" Airachnid asked.

Bulkhead was still screaming in pain by all the operations the Star Seekers troopers and Cannonball were doing on him.

"Enjoying the show? Ironically, your would be rescuers maybe in more pieces than you right now." Thundertron remarked.

"Autobots don't break that easy!" Bulkhead retorted.

"Who said they were Autobots?" Cannonball simply asked.

"That doesn't make sense. Decepticons wouldn't come to rescue me." Bulkhead said.

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door and everyone stopped what they were doing. Brimstone turned to the security camera to see what was making that noise. A lot of Star Seeker troopers gathered around the garage door and aimed their guns at whatever was going to come at them, but in that moment Breakdown busted through the door with both hands turned into hammers.

"Marco! You're supposed to say polo!" Breakdown yelled smashing Star Seekers as he advanced.

"It seems that one of them went further." Brimstone deduced.

"More quest for the mill." Thundertron whispered as he and the others walked out of the room.

Once he finished with the last troopers, Breakdown walked further into the tunnel to see Bulkhead still trapped on the operating table. Bulkhead looked up to see Breakdown walking towards him, changing his hammers into hands.

"It must be your lucky day." Breakdown said.

Bulkhead closed his eyes waiting for his death, but instead Breakdown ripped the braces, setting him free.

"What are you doing?" Bulkhead demanded.

"Getting you out of here. Yeah, I don't believe it either." Breakdown said as Bulkhead grabbed his hand and he pulled him up.

"Can you walk?" Breakdown asked.

"I think so." Bulkhead said as he close up his chest plates.

Then red sirens blinked as the alarms being activated.

"Can you run?" Breakdown asked.

"Never run when you can fight." Bulkhead smirked as he unfolded his wrecking ball.

"Just keep that thing pointed away from me, alright?" Breakdown said as he moved the wrecking ball from his face.

They took off running. When they were almost on the exit, a group of Star Seeker troopers fired at them, but they managed to evade the shots.

"Creature double feature coming at ya!" Breakdown yelled as he swung his hammer at them.

As they go out of the tunnel, they were ambushed by a lot of Star Seekers: main soldiers, jets, helicopters, commandos and tanks. Bulkhead fired his cannons at the soldiers, taking down a couple of them.

"You have some sort of escape plan?" Bulkhead asked.

"Yep, but you're not gonna like it." Breakdown said before activating his com-link. "Breakdown to Megatron. Rendezvous to my coordinates. I'm in need of backup."

Bulkhead threw one of the soldiers' bodies into a Star Seeker helicopter, destroying it. Breakdown managed to hit two other Star Seeker commandos in vehicle form, as the battle continued. Bulkhead managed to see Thundertron in his vehicle form, but his missiles and lasers were not the worst part. He charged some kind of electromagnetic cannon and fired at him, but Bulkhead managed to evade it. Breakdown was getting weakening by the continuing attacks of the troopers, so Thundertron aimed his cannon at him and fired, but Bulkhead pulled him out of the way.

"Enough! All of you hold fire!" One voice ordered.

The Star Seekers stopped attacking them.

"It seems that I was wrong with you. You both are great fighters, but together you are a challenge, that's what I like." A 9K22 Tunguska said before it turns into a big bot.

"Who's him?" Breakdown asked.

"Sandstorm. A rouge Autobot." Bulkhead answered angered.

"Do you like my new form for demolition? Because I have intention to use it against you." Sandstorm said.

"You are the helicopter I saw before I went off! But how it's that possible?" Breakdown asked in disbelief.

"Because Sandstorm is a triple changer." Bulkhead explained.

"Whatever, if you want to stop us, you'll have to do it by the hard way." Breakdown said as he and Bulkhead prepared to confront him.

"Jaja, I will enjoy this." Sandstorm said charging at them.

Both rivals managed to grab the Star Seeker's fists and threw him to a building.

"I will turn you into scrap!" He said furiously as he got up.

Thundertron was about to fire again when…

"Sir, incoming bogies!" Axer reported.

"All units, disengage and initiate Omega protocols." Thundertron ordered.

"This is not over. Maybe another day." Sandstorm said before transforming into a helicopter and flew away.

All the Star Seekers retreated, leaving Breakdown and Bulkhead alone.

"Your backup?" Bulkhead asked.

They looked up to see five Aerobots, carrying with them four Autobot tanks and Grimlock landing in front of them.

"General Grimlock." Bulkhead said in surprise.

"Consorting with the enemy, Bulkhead?" Grimlock asked in disbelief.

"But Breakdown got me out of there!" Bulkhead retorted.

"Many spark-felt thanks, Decepticon. Now destroy him." Grimlock instructed.

Bulkhead looked at Breakdown. "But…"

"Do you plan on joining their ranks anytime soon?" Grimlock cut off. "No? Then be done with it already."

Bulkhead looked at Breakdown and smirked.

"Tough break Breakdown. Maybe in the next life." Bulkhead said as he unfolded his wrecking ball.

Bulkhead tried to hit him, but Breakdown evaded and knocked him off his feet.

"Destroy him!" Grimlock ordered to the troopers as Breakdown hit him with an uppercut, while all the Autobots aimed their blasters at Breakdown.

Breakdown quickly picked up Bulkhead and threw him at the Autobots. "It's blasting time! Come on, I'll scrap all of you!" He said pulling out his hammer.

The Bots were about to fire, but other shots came from behind as they turned to see the Decepticons firing at them.

"Retreat!" Grimlock ordered.

All the Autobots, including Bulkhead transformed and went away.

"Engaging the enemy on your own was even more foolish this time, Breakdown. But I am honored that you saw fit to rescue your rival. You have truly risen above yourself." Megatron said.

"Did you see? I bet Bulkhead and bashed them all with his own wrecking ball. I've won the rematch!" Breakdown cheered.

"I'm sure Miko would be proud." Knock Out smiled.

Outside the town, Bulkhead was still driving when Grimlock stayed in front of him in his Tyrannosaurus form.

"One day, you will repay your debt to me, Bulkhead. The day it comes time to choose sides." Grimlock said.

Bulkhead transformed to his robot form. "Huh…between Bots and Cons?" He asked.

"Between me and Prime." Grimlock answered as he began walking around Bulkhead. "Incidentally I suggest that Optimus never know of this rescue. You do want him to think you overcame the puny Star Seekers on your own, don't you? After all you're a Wrecker." Grimlock said before leaving Bulkhead alone.

Meanwhile, someone was seeing some data aboard other cybertronian warship, known as the Tidal Wave.

"The prisoner escaped, but we managed to sanitize the location and transfer most of the newly acquired data to our data base. Our diagnostic scans of the prisoner's vital components were thorough enough for us to initiate Project Agony." Cannonball informed.

"With the entire knowledge of our enemies, we'll soon make them pay for what they did to our world, in ways they'll never imagine." Thundertron smiled sinisterly.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen- Family Threatened**

It was late in the night when Thundertron, Cannonball, Sandstorm, Axer and Brimstone were walking cautiously through the forest. Because they have their weapons ready, it seems that they were looking something, or someone.

"So what we do to him when we located him?" Brimstone asked.

"Suppression fire only. I want this one alive." Thundertron instructed.

They all heard a sudden thump on the ground as they turned around to see an unidentified cybertronian running around them. All the Star Seekers kept firing, but it dodged it and ran deeper the woods. The Star Seekers followed it to down a crevasse.

"Tight formation." Thundertron instructed as they went down.

Thundertron continued to track down his target through the canyon avoiding the rocks. He was getting close when suddenly the signal just disappeared. Then he heard screams from the other Star Seekers, he turned around to see his comrades trapped under a lot of rocks. This was made by the cybertronian they were tracking: the female Autobot Arcee, who smirked with delight. Thundertron saw a couple of little rocks falling above him, so he fired at Arcee but she evaded the shots and kicked him before launching a couple of rocks, trapping him.

"Don't tell me the Star Seekers never considered that an open channel distress signal from an injured Autobot might be a trap." Arcee said approaching him.

"I'll bear that in mind next time." Thundertron promised.

Arcee laughed. "Next time? Autobot radio chatters all a buzz about the work over you gave poor Bulkhead. As an ex-Bot, myself, I should really eviscerate you for that." Arcee threatened with her wrist blades. "But an old acquaintance and her nasty little human destroyed my ship and skinned my knee. I mean to pay them back in kind, both of them. You see, I make it in and out of places most Autobots can't, but I'm still learning navigate this planet."

"What's in it for me?" Thundertron asked.

"I'll let you live. And since you don't matter of what side belongs the cybertronian you'll captured, I'll throw in what's left of Airachnid, after I've broken her." Arcee answered sinisterly.

At Jasper, Jack calmly walked towards his garage with Airachnid hand in hand in the middle of the night.

"Thanks for walking me home, Jack. You're a real gentleman." Airachnid complimented before turning into her vehicle form.

"I don't want you revved up before bedtime. And mom's a light sleeper, and I don't think she'd understand about…" Jack said as he opened the garage's door.

"Understand what, Jack?" A voice demanded. Jack turned around to see his mother in the garage. "You're breaking curfew for the third time this month."

"Mom!" Jack yelled in surprise.

"Or why your boss called about you missing another shift at work? Or maybe the email I received from your Art and History teacher who is concerned that you have been falling asleep in class?" June continued.

"Well, two words, mom: Art and History!" Jack simply stated.

"Tell me the rumors aren't true, Jack. Tell me you're not racing that helicopter!" June begged.

"No! No! Wait. Where did you hear that?" Jack demanded.

"Small town, people talk. I work in an emergency room, Jack. I've seen what can happen. So please, tell me you haven't fallen in with a bad crowd!" June begged once more.

"What?! No, no, no, no. My friends are the good crowd! Seriously good!" Jack explained.

"I let you have that helicopter because you convinced me you were mature enough to handle it. But I think you may need a gentle reminder." June decided.

"Message received, mom. Loud and clear. I'm glad we had this talk." Jack said walking to the garage.

"I meant let's see if a few weeks without the distraction of your helicopter will do the trick." June corrected.

"But…"

"No buts. You're grounded from everything but school and work. And if you need a ride to somewhere, you'll pedal!" She gestured to the bicycle, making Jack's eyes widened.

"Serious face, Jack! If I see that helicopter out of the house…" She finished before kissing Jack on the head. "Now go wash up and get some sleep. I love you." She said as she walked towards the door and into the living room, leaving Jack and Airachnid to themselves.

"I'll miss you while you're grounded." Airachnid said as she moved next to the garage.

"But don't worry, Airachnid. I'll visit you here every day." Jack said.

"Uh…Jack, I won't be here. Sitting on my back tires for two weeks is not an option." Airachnid announced.

"No, no, no. You saw mom's serious face! Look, Airachnid, I feel badly enough that I have to lie to her all this time. But if you're not here, she's gonna think I'm blowing her off!" Jack yelled.

"Deep breaths, Jack. Your mom works late nights. I'll try to be back in the garage before she gets home. But no promises." Airachnid swore.

Jack finished with his job and prepared to get back home on his bike when his phone makes noise, so he picked it up.

"Hey mom." Jack greeted.

"Jack, I hope you are not planning to eat take-out tonight. I took my break early, so I can cook my grounded son a whole some dinner." June remarked as she got into her car.

"Organic tofu. Awesome! Hey, car beats ten-speed. I'll be home soon. Love you, bye." Jack replied nervously before hanging up and tried to call Airachnid. "Come on. Pick up, pick up, pick up! Airachnid, you wouldn't be at home right now?"

Really, she was battling against Autobot troopers inside an energon mine.

"Negative, Jack. Can we talk about this later?" Airachnid said in the middle of a battle dodging lasers.

"No! Mom's on her way home! If you don't race back there right now, I will be grounded for life! And mom will make me sell you for parts!" Jack yelled.

"Guys, can you handle it?" Airachnid asked to Stinger and Starscream.

"( **Go. Do what you have to do.** )" Stinger said.

"These guys are pathetic." Starscream said launching one missile.

"Soundwave, I need a bridge." Airachnid requested through the com-link while the others eliminated the remaining Autobots.

Jack then hung up the phone and peddled as fast as he could to his house so he could beat his mother there. But June was already there and decided to check if Jack's helicopter was somewhere there. But when Jack finally arrived at his house…

"JACK!" June shouted as she walked in front of him angered. "Jack, I can't believe you disobeyed me. Where is the helicopter?"

Fortunately for Jack, he noticed a green light on his house's garden, so he knew it was the ground bridge.

"What do you mean? She's right where I left her!" Jack said showing his mom where the helicopter was landed in the same spot.

"Did you get one of your crew to sneak it in? Or did you just walk it up again?" She immediately asked.

Jack sighed, knowing that he couldn't hide that from her forever. "Ok, mom. Do you really want to know? Fasten your seatbelts. My helicopter is a sentient robotic organism from a distant planet, part of a team stationed on Earth fighting a secret war. And I spend most of my time after school hanging with her crew."

"Jack." June began, not believing what her son was saying.

"And the coolest thing: this isn't even her actual form. She's really a giant robot who can transform into a vehicle." Jack explained.

"Enough, Jack." June demanded.

"It's okay, Airachnid. Show yourself." Jack said, earning no response. "She's shy. Airachnid, really, no more hiding, no more lies." He said again, still earning no response. "Oh come on, rise up already!" He said kicking her, earning no response whatsoever.

"So, hum, the bad crowd you have been hanging out with is a science fiction club?" She asked, but Jack didn't responded. "I have to get back to work. We'll continue this when I get home." June said getting in her car and driving back to the hospital.

"Thanks for the support, partner." Jack said sarcastically.

"Don't blame me. Remember." Airachnid reminded Jack.

"I know, I know. You don't exist." Jack mumbled.

Meanwhile, there was another reunion on a secret place.

"Your ship's black box sustained serious damage in the explosion. But our software was able to reconstruct a few frames of the security feed." Cannonball explained as Thundertron and Arcee looked over some footage, and they saw Jack hiding behind the ship.

"That's him. My Jack." Arcee said.

"Our facial recognition algorithm will send the human's image across the web. Another kind of web." Brimstone informed them.

"Ah, the mother lode." Thundertron said.

"Human government database?" Arcee asked curiously.

"Social networking page." Brimstone corrected.

"Everything worth knowing about Jack Darby is right here. Age: 16. Jasper, Nevada. Mother: June Darby, a nurse. Maybe we can make him come to us and bring his special friend with some persuasion." Thundertron said.

At the hospital, June had just finished her shift and walked towards her car in the night.

"Maybe I'm being too hard on Jack. But he lied, and the only way he's going to learn is if I stick to my…" June said to herself until she suddenly heard a strange noise and turned around to see a giant robot in front of her. Before she could say anything, Axer pointed his weapon at her charging an electric shot, next everything went black.

Jack just arrived at home as he saw Airachnid landed on the garden.

"Airachnid, is mom home yet? I didn't see her car." Jack asked.

"Don't know. I just bridged from base to beat her here. Oh! And there's a package for you." Airachnid answered.

Jack saw the orange envelope on the table and picked it up. He turned it slightly and out came a communicator.

"Hello, Jack." A voice greeted from the device.

"Thundertron." Airachnid growled as she transformed.

"What is it? What's going on?" Jack asked nervously.

"The Star Seekers." Airachnid sneered.

"They know where I live?" Jack asked in horror.

"We know things about your family that even you don't know. For example: do you know where your mother is?" Thundertron said.

"What did you…"

"Understand, Jack. We have no intention in hurting her. In fact, we'd like to reunite the two of you as soon as possible. I just need you and Airachnid to follow the GPS coordinates programmed into this communicator. It'll lead you to the temporary facility I've set up." Thundertron explained.

"Soundwave." Airachnid whispered through her com-link, but suddenly she clutched her head in pain and screamed.

"Airachnid?!" Jack yelled as he ran to her side.

"Did I not mention our communicator scrambles the signal and your brains? Any break in communication and attempt to reach the other Decepticons and Ms. Darby…well, I wouldn't want to feel responsible for the outcome." Thundertron warned.

Jack went with Airachnid flying above Jasper as he followed the GPS coordinates. He was scared, better said terrified, for what Thundertron might do to his mom.

"If anything happens to her because of my connection to all of this, I…" Jack trailed off.

"Jack, the Star Seekers are only interested in me. Once they get what they want, they'll let your mom go." Airachnid said, trying to comfort him.

"That's not exactly reassuring. You're family too." Jack said.

They finally arrived at an abandoned factory. The moment Jack put the GPS in his back pocket they saw a lot of Star Seekers troopers aiming at him.

"So, what's the plan?" Jack asked.

"The usual." Airachnid answered.

Airachnid was slowly landing directly to Thundertron, who stood before them. Then Airachnid performed an evasive maneuver and flew past the Star Seekers. They went inside of the warehouse and Jack got off of Airachnid.

"Mom?!" Jack called out.

"Looking for June? She's hanging around here somewhere." Arcee said getting out of her hiding place.

"Arcee!" Airachnid growled as she transformed.

Arcee suddenly threw a couple of cables at Airachnid, trapping her. She tried to get free but the grabbing was too strong.

"What she's doing here?" Jack demanded as Arcee and the Star Seekers walked in.

"Help them, please. They are not part of our conflict. You can't let Arcee…" Airachnid pleaded.

"A few human lives are a small price to pay for a great vengeance satisfaction, like yourself." Thundertron said.

"Sweet dreams, Con." Axer said firing an electric shot at her, making her screamed in pain as she fell to the ground unconscious.

"Airachnid." Jack said sadly putting next to her.

"You and I will have a private session later. Promise." Arcee smirked.

"Brimstone." Thundertron said.

The Pteranodon Star Seeker walked up and bent down to his height.

"I'm sorry kid, but this is what live is." He said taking the GPS and Jack's phone.

"I'm still learning about humankind, but one thing is clear to me, Jack. You people care deeply about family. Therefore, the sweetest revenge I could possibly devise would be to make you watch as I take your family apart." Arcee said directly to Jack.

"If you hurt my mother, I…" Jack began.

"You remember how much I enjoy sport, don't you, Jack? So I'll give you the opportunity to save your mother. I've stashed her close by, with help of a little gift from Airachnid to make it more exciting. If you can rescue her before the stroke of twelve, I will let both of you go unharmed. Deal?" Arcee explained.

"And if I can't?" Jack asked.

"What do you think?" Arcee retorted.

"I can only promise you that no one of my soldiers would attack you if you managed to escape." Thundertron said as he knelt down to his height.

"Please! Don't let her do this! You can let us go! We won't tell anyone!" Jack said as he run at Thundertron.

"Enough!" Thundertron said pushing him to the ground.

"Yes, Jack. Man up already. Six minutes." Arcee said looking at the clock.

Jack bit his lips before he ran out of the warehouse to look for his mom.

"Mom?! Mom!" He shouted.

Thundertron was watching him by the monitor inside the warehouse.

"Now I know we promised the two-wheeler that she would have first crack at you. But something tells me she plans on turning our mutual crisscross into a double cross." Thundertron said as he looked at Airachnid.

"Sir, we don't have the means of transporting her right now." Sandstorm informed.

"We'll have to cut and run. Open her up." Thundertron declared.

Jack breathed heavily as he looked around for his mom. He looked over to see Arcee standing on a box. Jack backed away for a moment, but Arcee just gestured to June, who was hanging from a platform covered in webs, probably stolen from Airachnid.

"Mom!" Jack yelled running towards her.

June slowly opened her eyes as she heard someone calling her. She looked down to see Jack running towards her.

"Jack?!" She yelled in surprise.

Jack ran to the ladder and began to climb it. Arcee smirked before she jumped towards the humans.

"Jack! What are you doing here? Who are these people? How did I get in this…stuff?" June asked as Jack ran to her.

"Don't worry, mom. I'm going to get you out." Jack promised.

A familiar sound was heard as June saw Arcee climb up the water tower.

"Jack? The robots are real?" June gasped.

"I beat your deadline!" Jack yelled.

"Afraid not, Jack! The task wasn't for you to find your mother by midnight. You had to rescue her!" Arcee corrected.

"And times up." She said, making Jack widen his eyes of terror.

"Now…" Arcee said as she grabbed and threw a small web that pinned Jack's hand to the floor. He tried to move it, but he was completely stuck.

"Take a seat, sit back, and enjoy the horror show." She said.

Thundertron was still watching everything.

"Make haste, Sandstorm. And don't worry about making a mess." Thundertron informed.

Jack was still trying to get free.

"You know, Jack. She is your mom. Why should I have all the fun? So you get to choose. Agonizing or excruciating?" Arcee offered as she made a cut in the metal planks and bar with her wrist blades, causing terror on June.

Fortunately, Jack ripped of a metal bar and began to pry himself free. At the same time, Sandstorm continued to cut the cables with his double chainsaw.

"Jack, your mother wants to know. Don't leave her dangling." Arcee said through the screen.

Airachnid opened on eye to see what was going on outside.

"You monster! Stop this!" June demanded.

Noticing that she was no longer trapped, she gasped in horror before closing her eyes again.

"We only have time to take one part. Go straight for the spark, I want it as my trophic." Thundertron instructed.

Cannonball changed his hand for a drill and slowly aimed it to Airachnid's chest. When the drill almost touches her chest, she made her move using her extra legs to knocked out Cannonball, spitted some acid to Sandstorm and shot lasers at the troopers who guarded the exit. Next she transformed into her helicopter form and flew away. Axer and Brimstone were about to follow her when Thundertron put his hands in front of them.

"Captain?" Axer questioned.

"Let her go. They are both our enemies. No matter the outcome, the spoils will be ours." Thundertron said.

Jack was still trying to get free when Arcee approached him.

"Well Jack, if you won't decide, I guess its ladies choice." Arcee said getting closer to June.

"Mom, I'm sorry." Jack apologized.

"No!" June screamed.

Then Arcee heard a familiar engine sound and turned to see Airachnid flying in her alt form. She transformed and kicked Arcee away from June, while Jack took advantage to get his hand free and grab the webs where his mom was trapped.

"Jack, your helicopter?" June started.

"I can explain, mom. Wait, I already did." Jack said.

Arcee did a couple of back flips on a chute as Airachnid tried to hit her. Arcee activated her wrist blades as Airachnid did the same with her spider legs.

"The Star Seekers lost Bulkhead, what were the odds they could hold onto you?" Arcee told.

Airachnid tried to swing at Arcee, but she dodges some, until Airachnid kicked her in the face. Then Arcee kicked Airachnid on the ground and she rolled over. As Arcee was about to attack again, she moved out of the way and began to climb with Arcee following her and began to fire lasers at her, but Airachnid managed to evade all of them. But one of the lasers hit the platform where June was on, causing it to bend. Jack grabbed the ledge of the platform before he fell over as June screamed.

"Mom!" Jack called out.

"Jack!" June screamed as Arcee attempted to grab June again, but Airachnid punched her and threw at another platform.

Arcee managed to climb up and continued to dodge Airachnid's claws. Jack managed to climb up to the platform; he accidentally pushed a lever, causing concrete to fall into a cement truck. Airachnid jumped and kicked Arcee in the face, causing her to fall over. But she grabbed the railing and climbed back up. She dodged a couple of attacks before she jumped into the air to kick Airachnid into a concrete container, but Airachnid evaded in the last second and Arcee fell to the container, while Airachnid landed on a pipe. Jack looked down to see Airachnid nod her head. Then he pulled the lever back down and concrete began to flow into the pipe, while Airachnid kicked the pipe above Arcee, who regain conscious. Before Arcee could register what was happening, concrete spilled all over her. She got up and screamed, trying to get the concrete off, but she was frozen solid.

"Ah! Jack!" June screamed.

Although Arcee began to break the concrete to get free, Airachnid decided to help June.

"Hang on, June." Airachnid said climbing at her.

But then, Arcee grabbed her and pulled her to the ground, making her stunned. Arcee chuckled as she was about to kill Airachnid, but then she heard a chopping sound. Everyone looked up to see three helicopters coming their way. Inside one of them was agent Silas.

"Aim for the red eyes one." Silas ordered.

The three helicopters fired at Arcee, who covered her face as the bullets hit her. Thundertron looked at the screen to see the helicopters.

"How strange." Cannonball said.

"How did they find us?" Sandstorm demanded.

Then Thundertron looked behind him to see his communicator wasn't there and realized why it was missing. When Jack approached him, he grabbed his communicator without notice.

"That little…!" Thundertron said angered.

Jack was watching how the helicopters were keeping Arcee busy. "Thanks for coming, agent Silas."

"If I know a Bot were involved, I would've called in Megatron." Silas remarked.

"That might have been too much for mom to handle in one night." Jack informed.

Silas nodded his head in understanding as they continuing firing. After some time they stooped to see what appearance had now Arcee, but she took the chance when the dust cleared as her eyes turned green and she scanned a motorcycle parked nearby.

"Again?" Silas said.

That was observed by Thundertron too, making him smirked. Arcee glared at them before transforming into a motorcycle and drove away.

"No." Airachnid cursed.

Thundertron turned off the footage and smirked.

"And that's how we do it. Don't you think?" Thundertron said before the light went out with a snap of his fingers.

Moments later, the helicopters were on the ground as Jack comforted his mom who wrapped herself in a blanket. Right then, agent Silas reunited with them.

"Ms. Darby, I'm special agent Silas. Its time you knew the truth. For the past several months, Jack has been…interning for me at the agency." Silas explained.

"Agent Silas, mom's not gonna buy it." Jack remarked.

"He's got that right." June said as she glared at Silas.

"Agent Silas." A soldier called out.

"Let me guess, they go away." Silas guessed, earning a nod from the soldier. "Maybe next time." He said before walking back with the soldier.

Jack and June turned to see Airachnid walking towards them.

"And she would be your…" June trailed off.

"Helicopter, guardian, Decepticon, friend." Jack said as Airachnid knelt down.

"Calm me Airachnid." She introduced.

June smiled as she got up from the crate. "Thank you, Airachnid."

She just smiled.

"I think it's time for that ride you once made me promise." Jack said.

The next day, Jack and June were carried by Airachnid into the tunnel of the Decepticon base. June looked in awe as they flew to the main room. When they reached there, Breakdown, Stinger, Knock Out, Soundwave, Starscream, Raf and Miko looked down to see they got out of Airachnid. June looked up to see Shockwave turn and looked at her, and then she heard large footsteps and looked up in shock to see Megatron.

"Mom, meet my science fiction club." Jack introduced.

All the Decepticons stood before them, so June smiled nervously and waved at them.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen- Metal Attraction**

It was a nice day inside the Decepticon base. Shockwave, Soundwave, Airachnid and Jack were having a nice and calm time when suddenly Soundwave detected something on the computer.

"Alert, a vehicular form is approaching." Soundwave informed.

"Autobot?" Airachnid asked.

The screen zoomed on the vehicle: it was a white car driving outside the base right for the secret entrance at incredible speed.

"Uh, mom." Jack sighed.

"Again?" Airachnid asked to him.

"She worries." Jack replied.

June drove inside the main hall and parked her car to a corner.

"Hi, honey." June said getting out of the car.

"Hey." Jack responded before her mom embraced him in a big hug.

"Finished my shift early at the hospital, so I thought I'd swing by." June said before turning at Shockwave and Soundwave. "Good to see you again, professor. And Soundwave, is it?"

Soundwave responded first nodding his head, the same as Shockwave.

"Airachnid." She said looking at her. "So, where's Megatron?" She asked looking around.

"On a scouting mission with Stinger and Starscream. Sorry to disappoint." Shockwave said.

"And I wore heels and everything." She said.

"Mom!" Jack said embarrassed as Soundwave and Shockwave looked at her confused.

"Shockwave, look at this." Soundwave demanded.

"That's odd. This is an extremely unusual magnetic flux, for any planet." Shockwave said looking the images of the screen.

But they were not the only ones who discovered that, because aboard the Ark, Blaster showed it on his face too to his leader.

"I recognize this magnetic, Blaster." Ratchet said.

"And it would be unfortunately to have an Autobot invention such as this used against us, don't you think dear?" Elita One expressed.

"Indeed." Optimus agreed.

"I will secure the weapon, Optimus Prime." Cliffjumper said.

"Cliffjumper? I doubt that you're the best choice for retrieving the device. If you were not able to stand against a simple Vehicon, what chances do you have against the Decepticons?" Optimus criticized.

"That was because I was off of the action for a very long time. Allow me to show you what I'm capable." Cliff answered.

A few moments later, Breakdown entered the main hall followed by Knock Out. Then the other children came out of Knock Out very excited and he and Breakdown transformed.

"Did you feel the Gs on that last turn? Knock Out is an animal!" Miko said as she and Raf clawed at the air.

They were very excited until they saw Jack's mom in front of them.

"Remember when this used to be a secret clubhouse?" Miko said.

"Uh, don't worry Miss Darby. We were wearing seat belts." Raf assured.

"I'm sure you were, Rafael." June told him. "Hi, Miko. How's school going?" She asked her.

"Why? What'd you hear?" Miko demanded suspiciously.

"Let's do this thing, Jack." Airachnid said walking with a wire in her hand.

Jack was about to follow her, but June stayed in his way.

"But…I just got here. I brought sandwiches." June protested.

"Mom! Look, I really need to help Airachnid test our upgraded tracking system." Jack said as he followed Airachnid.

"Well, just be careful." June told him.

"There is nothing to be careful about, it's a routine diagnostic." Airachnid said as she walked away with Jack.

"Are you sure you need Jack for that?" June asked.

That made Airachnid to stopped and growled in frustration.

"Uh oh." Knock Out said.

"Breakdown, I need you back in the field to investigate an odd magnetic disturbance." Shockwave informed.

"I'll go with!" Miko shouted running at him.

"Whoa! Stay put, Miko." Breakdown said stopping her with his hand, making her groaned.

"Why aren't you going with him?" June asked Miko.

"Someone thinks it's not safe." Miko muttered.

"But it's safe for Jack to go with Airachnid?" June asked warily.

"Mom, totally different." Jack sighed walking at her.

"Oh, how?" June asked.

"Mother knows best, Jack. Wait up, Breakdown! I'm going with." Airachnid said as she threw the wire on the floor.

The two entered the ground bridge as Jack shot a glare at her.

"What'd I say?" She asked.

Meanwhile, Cliffjumper was already inside a rock valley looking the source. According to his scanner, he was in front of the magnetic flux.

"Jackpot." Cliff said as he walked down the hill.

He began to pull out rocks, until he reached the device. As he takes it, something crawled swiftly behind him. He noticed that and ready one of his guns, but he saw nothing. Suddenly, debris fell down from behind him. He looked up to see Arcee standing before him. She chuckled before launching herself and kicked Cliffjumper on his face, making him lost grip of the device.

"For me? You shouldn't have." Arcee said taking the device.

"Sorry lady, but I didn't." Cliff said grabbing the device and whacked Arcee with his fist. "I heard a rumor about a rouge Bot. How about I hogtie you and haul you in?" Cliff said as he charged at her.

Cliffjumper tried to punch her, but she dodged it.

"That's a primitive style." She said dodging another hit jumping and landing on a boulder. "Not much for depth perception anymore, are you?"

"Well not much for looks anymore." Cliff said firing his cannons.

She moved out of the way and disappeared, but then she launched a couple of mini explosives which detonated, by they didn't make any damage on Cliffjumper. However, that was a distraction, because then Arcee jumped and kicked hard Cliffjumper's chest, sending him inside a hole, dragging him into the ground.

Arcee laughed as she took the device. "It was a lovely burial." While she walked away she could heard Cliffjumper's voice, but it was muffled. "Sorry, can't quite understand you."

But he managed to get out of the ground, roaring in fury. Arcee went into battle position and both of them charged at each other. Not far from there, Airachnid and Breakdown were walking to their location.

"Don't take it so personal, Airachnid. Jack's mother is just protective." Breakdown said, trying to comfort her.

"Well, I protected her son for months before she had a clue. Suddenly she wakes up to reality and I'm not enough." She said in frustration.

"No kidding." A voice said behind them, which belonged to Miko. "Can we ban her from the base?"

"Miko, how did you…?" Breakdown started.

"I'm gonna need a Bridge." Airachnid began to say to the com-link.

"Wait, don't send me back to helicopter mom. It's just that I missed the way things were." Miko pleaded.

"Strike that, Soundwave. It's only recon, she's safe with us." Airachnid said looking at Breakdown, understanding Miko's point view.

"Sweet!" Miko said climbing up Breakdown's hand. "Crank up track seven, Breaky." She said as she sits on Breakdown's shoulder.

"Track seven?" Airachnid asked.

Breakdown turned his radio on and they began to listen rock music, with Miko dancing on his shoulder.

"Don't you think that's a little loud for recon?!" Airachnid asked, making Breakdown turned off the radio and Miko sit bored.

"A scout should be silent, but deadly, just like a spider." Airachnid said, but she only made Breakdown and Miko to look each other and laughed. "What?"

"Silent but deadly means something completely different on Earth." Breakdown responded.

"Breaky, let's get our recon on." Miko said as they walked past Airachnid.

"I always take point." Airachnid argued.

"I know, but Miko likes to be in front so she could see." Breakdown said as he continued walking.

"No matter where I turn, I'm the third wheel." Airachnid said to herself before catching them up and take point.

"Hum, looks like Shockwave's magnetic flux is coming from…" Breakdown said looking at the scanner when he heard a scuffle.

Down below they saw Cliffjumper and Arcee brawling at each other. During the fight, Cliff dropped the device, Arcee tried to grab it but Cliff grabbed her by her back spikes and tried to punch her, but she kicked him.

"Arcee." Airachnid said angrily.

"And Cliffjumper. And they're smashing each up." Miko added.

As Arcee tried to pull off the device from his hand, Cliffjumper began to power it up.

"Over that." Breakdown observed.

"The source of the magnetic disturbance." Airachnid deduced.

"Alright. What's the plan?" Miko asked, earning only that Breakdown put her on the ground, annoyed.

"Miko, don't move. I mean it." He warned as she groaned.

Breakdown pulled out his hammer and shoulder cannon as Airachnid activated her spider legs, now they need to wait for the right moment. As she evaded Cliffjumper's hit, Arcee jumped and kicked him on the back, causing him to release the device. She chuckled as she reaches out for it, but Airachnid shot near it to skid it across the dirt.

"Airachnid. And look, you brought a new partner for me to snuff." Arcee said looking at them.

"That would be Breakdown." Cliffjumper said putting next to her.

"Who asked you?" Arcee said to him.

"Launch me." Airachnid said quietly to Breakdown.

Breakdown lowered his hand low and wide, Airachnid placed her foot on his hand and he threw her high in the air. As she descended she constantly fired at the two Autobots. Once she landed she charged for Cliffjumper. He decided to do the same.

"No! She's mine." Arcee said getting on his way before charging at her.

Cliffjumper looked to his left, only to be blinded by a missile and smacked by Breakdown's hammer.

"Watch out for…!" Breakdown began to say to Airachnid.

"Got it!" Airachnid confirmed as she began battle with Arcee, who pulled out her wrist blades.

After blocking some of Arcee's attacks, Airachnid managed to slice her a little and kicked her to the side. Now Breakdown and Airachnid were back against back.

"Whoa, they're really good together." Miko said watching the fight. "Smack down for the scrapbook." She said as she pulled out her phone to make some pictures.

Both Decepticons were standing their ground against their rivals, but the balance when for their side when Breakdown launched Cliffjumper to the rock wall and Airachnid kicked Arcee right to Cliffjumper. Both Autobots were tired when Cliff realized that he had the device next to him, so he picked it up.

"Thank you so much, Cons." Cliff said activating it.

"Do you even know what that does? It isn't a toy." Arcee shouted before running off.

Airachnid saw her retreat and fired at her, chasing her. To avoid getting shot she changed to her motorcycle form and drove away as Airachnid continued firing at her.

"Hey!" Miko shouted as her phone was pulled out with some change by a strange force.

Breakdown seemed unfazed with the device, until the same force dragged him near the device.

"What's going on?" Airachnid said being dragged too.

Then they began to levitate in front of Cliffjumper.

"What this switch do?" Cliff smirked as he pressed it.

The result was that Miko's phone went directly to Breakdown before he and Airachnid were launched to a pile of rocks. Miko decided to go and see if they were fine.

"Hmph. Ha, Prime is gonna love this." Cliffjumper said as he transformed and drove out of there.

Miko reached where Breakdown was lying.

"Breakdown." She said, earning only a groan from him. "The Bots are getting away! Hey, my phone." She said taking looking her at in Breakdown's chest. She tried to pull it out, but nothing worked. "It's stuck."

"Where's Airachnid?" Breakdown said as he began to stand up.

"Ugh, why you just marry her?" Miko said annoyed.

"I'm right behind you." Airachnid responded.

"Where?" Breakdown said taking a step forward.

"Let's just say she's got your back." Miko said.

He turned around and surprisingly Airachnid was stuck, dangling onto his back. She attempted to push herself off, but no use.

"Scrap." She cursed.

Meanwhile, Cliffjumper was driving near an abandoned gas station.

"Cliff here, mission accomplished. I'm gonna need a bridge…" He was saying through his com-link until he was blocked by a bunk of rocks who make him trapped, observed by a small shadow.

Back with the Decepticons, Miko was trying helpless to pull Airachnid's leg to separate them. They already contacted Shockwave and told him what happened.

"You've been magnetized? Together?" Shockwave asked through the com-link.

"Oh, they're inseparable." Miko said giving up.

"And the device that did this is on its way to Optimus Prime." Breakdown added.

"A polarity gauntlet! A deceptively simple, but diabolical creation." Shockwave said.

"Just tell me you can unhitch us, Shockwave." Airachnid said.

"It may be a residual magnetic charge providing your current attraction." Shockwave said.

"They're not attracted to each other!" Miko urged.

"But I'm afraid retrieving the gauntlet is our surest bet of reversing its effect. Once Optimus get his hands on the gauntlet…" Shockwave began.

"He'll use it for a whole lot more than attaching notes and photos to the fridge." Jack finished.

"Jack, I'm not following." June said.

"Madame, we are forged of metal alloy." Soundwave said.

"If Optimus could repel us with a flick of a switch, we may never again have another shot at him." Shockwave explained.

"Instant force field." Raf said.

"Worse yet, he might use it to mend us all into a scrap pile." Shockwave corrected.

"Good news is the gauntlet hasn't traveled far." Soundwave said as he saw it on the screen. "I would strongly advise pursuit."

Breakdown heard everything.

"We could catch up faster on wheels." Breakdown said crushing his fists.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! And snap me in half?" Airachnid objected.

"Right." Breakdown said.

"Sweet! I'll take point!" Miko said.

"Not his time, kid." Airachnid objected.

"What? But you said…" Miko began.

"That was recon, this is war." Airachnid cut off. "I'm not risking your wellbeing so you can hit your daily adrenaline quota." Everyone heard that conversation from base. "Soundwave, Miko needs a bridge." Airachnid finished.

"Affirmative." He responded going to the controls.

"Ugh, you think Jack's mom is bad? You sound just like her!" Miko shouted, making June's eyebrows shot up.

"Is that such a bad thing?" June asked to her son.

"Ah, hum… I'm gonna go over here." Jack simply responded as he walked away.

June looked at Raf, who only struggled. Meanwhile, at the abandoned gas station, Arcee was now in possession of the gauntlet, while Cliffjumper was still trapped under the rocks.

"It fits! You know a girl can never have too many accessories." Arcee said to him.

"Why are you doing this, girl? You were an Autobot once. We could bring the prize to Optimus together." Cliff said.

"Go back to that boys club? No thanks. This will provide the perfect repellent against Bots and Cons. Besides, I don't want to be accompanied by anyone since…" Arcee began.

"Tailgate?" Cliff suddenly said.

"How do you know that?" Arcee asked in curiosity.

"When that happened I was one of the few Bots who paid attention to the recently casualties made by the Cons. But I never knew that Bot had a partner, and I can't imagine the pain she was experimenting." Cliff said.

"That's why I decided to leave the Autobots, to not get another partner and pass by the same thing." Arcee said sadly.

"But that would not help you. If you want to keep Tailgate's memory alive, you have to keep fighting in the name of our cause, just like he liked. And besides, even if you don't have an official partner, you are not alone. There are a lot of Bots ready to help you when you want to take a Con's spark." Cliffjumper said.

That made Arcee to almost change her mind. "Well, if you want me to go with you, there is something you can help me to make."

Meanwhile, not far from there, Breakdown was getting closer to the gas station while Airachnid dangles on his back.

"Never had eyes in the back of my head or blasters to cover my rear. And you get a built-in shield." Breakdown said, trying to raise Airachnid's spirit.

"Breakdown, you don't really think I sound like June, do you?" She asked.

"Um…"

"She's overprotective. I'm just…protective." She told him.

"Totally different." He said before the scanner picked up the signal. "The gauntlet's close."

They finally reached to the gas station. The place was silent and rusty, with a lot of spider webs inside the building. Breakdown walked to the back with his shoulder turret activated and heard muffed grunts. He saw Cliffjumper trapped under a bunk of rocks. Then Arcee appeared from the top of the building and went down.

"I assume Airachnid isn't far behind." Arcee deduced.

"You might say that." Breakdown responded.

"Blaster hands in the air and turn around." She said aiming the gauntlet at him.

"Whatever you say." Breakdown said turning off his turret and raising both hands in the air.

But when he turned around Airachnid fired lasers from her hands at Arcee. When she retreated, a shot hit the gauntlet out of her hand. As it fell the gauntlet self-activated itself, pulling everyone in. Cliffjumper set free from the rocks and grabbed the gauntlet before switched it off. Breakdown and Airachnid rolled in between Arcee and Cliffjumper.

"Still up for a truce, horned?" Arcee asked.

"Why not? After all they are the real enemy." Cliffjumper said as he turned his hand into a sword and hit Breakdown's face, but he returned with a punch and another one.

Airachnid only could block all Arcee's attacks from her wrist blades, but before she could hit Arcee, Breakdown dodged a hit from Cliffjumper, causing her to lose her chance.

"What the…?" Airachnid said before returning in front of Arcee and earning a punch from her. "Breakdown, would you stay still?"

"My bad." He said before punching Cliffjumper hard and turning around to face Arcee. "Need a hand?"

"No, she's mine." Airachnid shouted.

But unfortunately, Cliffjumper had the gauntlet again.

"Two Cons, one stone." He said using the gauntlet to levitate a piece of an oil pump above them.

"Breaky, dodge!" Airachnid warned as she saw it.

He turned around only to get hit and falling back, getting poor Airachnid crushed.

"Breakdown, get off!" Airachnid gasped trying to get free, but Arcee stomped her foot on Airachnid's hand.

"Pinned like a bug. Of course, I can think of one permeant way out of your predicament." Arcee said activating her wrist blades. "It seems that our plan is a success." She said looking at Cliffjumper.

"I'll take top side." Cliff said as he attacked with his sword, but Breakdown grabbed it and launched him at Arcee, making him lost grip of the gauntlet.

Both Decepticons got up, but now they can move freely.

"I'm free." Airachnid told to Breakdown before they charged towards the gauntlet.

Cliffjumper tried to reach it, but Airachnid pushed it away with her claws and jumped, smashed down on his head. Next she began punching him at the face a few times. At the same time, Arcee saw the gauntlet, but it was behind Breakdown.

"Wanna dance?" He asked.

"You're not my type." Arcee said as she jumped over Breakdown and kicked his face before past him.

"Scrap." Breakdown said as Arcee grabbed the gauntlet.

"Let's leave the boys to themselves." Arcee said as she activated it and pulled Airachnid to her. "That would be the up close and personal setting." She said as they began brawling it out.

Breakdown and Cliffjumper started to punch each other. Then Cliff punched Breakdown so hard that he was send back a few feet, but when he got up he pulled out his shoulder turret and fired a charged missile at Cliffjumper, sending him flying to another oil pump. Airachnid managed to make a cut on Arcee's face, but she pinned Airachnid to the ground while she tried to keep her busy with her claws.

"Quality, not quantity." Arcee said as she tried to slice Airachnid with her blade, but Airachnid moved her head to the side.

"One hand tied, five more to play with." Airachnid said as she grabbed the gauntlet and switched it.

Now Airachnid had the gauntlet, so she used it to shield herself against Arcee and threw her aside.

"Opposites do not attract." She smirked.

Breakdown and Cliffjumper charged towards each other again with their melee weapons ready, but before they could crash, and strange force separated them. Cliff threw him a big metal piece, but it a field blocked it at slingshot back to Cliff, but the same field deflected it, sending it flying to the sky.

"We can't touch metal." Cliffjumper realized.

"We're polarized." Breakdown responded.

Airachnid was about to use the gauntlet, but Arcee grabbed it in the last moment.

"Always leave on a high note." She said transforming into a motorcycle and began driving away.

"Breakdown, the gauntlet!" Airachnid shouted, knowing that she couldn't catch her in her flying form.

Then Breakdown jumped over the station's and jumped high over Arcee, landing in front of her, stunning her.

"Nid! Send me the horned one!" Breakdown said with an idea on his head.

"Roger!" Airachnid said as she shot some webs and grabbed Cliffjumper.

"Hey! Take these sticky things out of me!" Cliff demanded.

Airachnid pulled her webs with great strength and threw Cliffjumper at Breakdown, while he grabbed Arcee and threw her at Cliffjumper, making them collapsed together and falling unconscious. Now Airachnid grabbed the gauntlet.

"Let's finish this." Breakdown said looking at the Autobots.

"And risk becoming twins again?" Airachnid remarked as they left, not before leaving the Autobots a little surprise for when they woke up.

They gave the gauntlet to Shockwave back to base.

"Souvenir. But…" Breakdown began.

"We don't advise indoor use." Airachnid finished.

"Ew, they even finish each other's sentences." Miko observed.

"Miko, check it out! New battle scars!" Breakdown announced to her, so she took another picture with her phone.

"Airachnid! Hey…" Jack started to say until her mom put a hand to stop him.

"Let the adults talk." June said as she walked towards her son's guardian. "Airachnid, I think I owe you an apology."

"You do?" Airachnid said surprised.

"I worry. Especially when I feel I can't control things. Which with a teenager is all the time." June said, earning a smile from Airachnid.

"Jack and I have always been close, especially after his dad left and I guess it's just hard to accept that all that's changing. I mean, I knew it would someday, but you're not quite the type of girl I thought Jack would be ditching me for." June explained with her heart.

"I think we've all been a little guilty of staying attached to the ways things were." Airachnid responded smiling.

Meanwhile, Cliffjumper retuned back to the Ark. He entered the bridge in front of his leaders.

"Cliffjumper, you dare to return empty-handed?" Optimus asked in outrage.

"Not exactly empty-handed, master." Cliffjumper said as he turned around, revealing Arcee magnetized to his back, dangling just like Airachnid.

"Arcee, it has been some time." Elita One said surprised.

"Commander? This is really a big surprise, I don't have any idea that you were here." Arcee said in disbelief.

"Should I have started out there?" Cliff said.

"Well, anyone is going to separate me from my partner?" Arcee asked impatiently.

"Partner. Heh?" Cliff said surprised.

"What can I say? It's good to be back." Arcee smirked.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen- Rock Bottom**

Jack and Miko were waiting outside a cave entrance for their guardians to come back. But Miko was freaking out.

"We're supposed to be at a rock concert, but all I see is rock." Miko whined.

"Relax Miko, the show doesn't start for two hours." Jack reassured lying comfortable on a rock.

"Do you know how long I've waited to see Slash Monkey?" Miko said as she glared at Jack.

"Hum…" He started.

"Forever! And it's their only U.S. date." Miko shouted.

"There's a shock. I mean who doesn't love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal?" Jack remarked sarcastically.

Then they heard big footstep sounds, showing that Airachnid and Breakdown had returned from inside the cave.

"By all appearances the mine's been stripped." Airachnid began.

"But I'm getting a signal. It's faint but it's definitely energon." Breakdown retorted.

"Whoa." Miko gasped in excitement.

"It doesn't make sense. This operation's been abandoned four maybe five years, and Autobots never leave energon behind." Airachnid said.

"Uh, guys." Jack said as he pointed into the mine, where Miko was getting in.

"Cool!" She yelled.

"She went in. Unbelievable." Airachnid said.

"Really? Have you met her?" Jack asked.

Breakdown groaned. "Miko! Get back here!" He called out as he went after her.

"It would be kind of interesting to see. You know, if it were…" Jack began.

"Safe? A stripped mine can be structurally unstable, Jack." Airachnid warned.

"I promise to step lightly." Jack swore.

"Just don't tell your mom." Airachnid gave in as they two walked into the mine.

When they disappeared into the darkness, an engine sound was heard as a black cybertronian starfighter arrived to the mine, transformed and landed, revealing to be Elita One. Next, she heard loud footsteps coming in front of her, revealing to be Grimlock in his dinosaur form and transforming when he reached.

"Elita, far be it from me to question your intentions, but I do not understand why we've returned after all this time. Alone." Grimlock said anxiously, but Elita only walked inside the mine. "Every last trace of energon was extracted from this mine. There's nothing left."

"Indulge me, Grimlock. Won't you?" She said as she walked in, followed by the Dinobot.

Very inside the cave, Breakdown was looking for Miko.

"Miko! Miko!" He shouted.

"Check it out! Now this would make an awesome rehearsal space." She said coming from behind a rock. "Hello! Hello, Cleveland! Are you ready to rock?! Whoo-hoo!" She shouted to make the eco sound.

Then Breakdown's scanner began to beep.

"Airachnid, I found something." He said through his com-link.

"Breakdown? Breakdown, do you read?" She asked, but she only received static. "Scrap. The mineral composition down here is causing interference."

Breakdown lost the communication too.

"Okay, maybe the acoustics aren't perfect." Miko said.

"Well, we're here. Starscream gonna want a sample." Breakdown said as he walked to where the scanner signaled him. Next he transformed his hand into a hammer and started smashing through the rock.

At the same time, Elita One and Grimlock entered a large area of the mine to see Autobot drilling equipment on the other side.

"How intriguing." She said.

Grimlock simply growled. "Incompetent fools! This mining equipment should've been relocated! Why is it still here?!" He shouted.

"The most valid question." Elita said.

"My apologies, Elita. I believe Bumblebee was in charge of coordinating transport." Grimlock explained, earning a growl from Elita. "But in fairness, during Optimus interstellar travels, we all had to assume additional responsibilities. Clearly, mistakes were made."

"Yes, clearly." Elita said before she punched his hand through a wall and pulled out a small amount of energon. "Every last trace of energon extracted?"

"Elita, I can explain." Grimlock said nervously, knowing that she had already caught him.

"Explain what? That you've been hoarding a supply of energon for your personal use?" Elita demanded as she dropped the energon on the ground.

"No, not exactly! You see, I…" Grimlock began as Elita smashed the energon with her foot.

"Do not take me for a fool, Grimlock!" She yelled, leaving him completely silent. "I have been wise to your transgressions from the beginning. Not only did you pluck the dark energon from Optimus's chest in a failed attempt to snuff his spark, but you tried to raise your own undead warrior with it! It's no secret that you lost an arm in the process, which you've since had replaced." She told.

"You know about that?!" Grimlock screeched as he fell on his back and walked backwards from Elita One.

"Blaster is quite competent in surveillance, I can assure you. The fact is, Grimlock, despite your treachery, Optimus allowed you to carry on this long because he took a certain delight in following your string of failures. But you've finally become tiresome, predictable! You've hit rock bottom." She proclaimed as she grabbed a big cannon from her back, aimed at him and charged it at him.

"Elita, wait! Give one more chance! I beg of you!" Grimlock pleaded as he fell down to her knees, but he moved one of his hands slowly with intention to pull out his sword, in case he needs to fight.

Airachnid and Jack continued to explore the mine, until they reached to an open area, where they saw Elita One trying to terminate Grimlock.

"You have ceased to be of use to us, Grimlock. So you shall simply cease to be." Elita proclaimed.

Grimlock whimpered as he got ready to grab his shield and sword. But with one of his optics, he saw Jack and Airachnid in front of them. They saw them too, and the worst part was because of what Grimlock was looking, Elita looked at them too. She only roared as she fired her cannon at them, fortunately Airachnid grabbed Jack with her webs and pulled him out of the way.

"Stay down!" Airachnid yelled as they hid behind a column and Elita kept firing.

As Elita continued firing and approaching the Decepticon and her human, Grimlock took this as an opportunity and ran for his life, something that Elita One noticed.

"Grimlock, you dare abandon me?!" She exclaimed as she fired at him.

A shot nearly hit Grimlock, causing him to jump into the air. He transformed into his T-Rex form as Elita kept firing, speeding for the exit. Airachnid took this as an opportunity and shot Elita from behind. As she turned around and tried to fire, Airachnid's blasts forced Elita's cannon to aim for the ceiling. Then rocks from the ceiling came falling down, and Elita widened her optics as one enormous rock fell on her. But the collision caused the ground underneath to form cracks and split.

"Scrap." Airachnid said as the drills were dragged out by the ground cracks.

She tried to reach Jack, but the ground gave way and they both fell. Breakdown and Miko looked around them to see the mine collapsing. One of the columns gave way and was about to crush Miko, but Breakdown used himself as a shield so she wouldn't get hurt. Grimlock kept running towards the exit as the rocks came crashing down behind him. One of the rocks hit him, causing him to slide out of control. He transformed to his robot form and crashed into the ground.

"What?! No!" He screamed in eco as the rocks trapped him, right before he reached the exit.

Deep inside, Jack managed to escape from the rubble, coughing but fine, only covered in dirt.

"Airachnid? Airachnid!" He called out, looking around trying to find his guardian. "Scrap." He cursed as he began walking through the new tunnels.

In another part of the mine, Miko was covered in dirt too, but at least she wasn't alone.

"Did I do that?" Breakdown asked above her.

"Don't think so." Miko responded.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Natch. What about you?" She asked.

When she turned around, she saw Breakdown standing up and holding the unstable ceiling.

"Peachy." Breakdown said sarcastically.

"Whoa." Miko gasped impressed.

"Don't worry, Miko. I got it under control." He reassured.

"What do you think caused the cave-in?" Miko asked.

"Who knows? I just hope Airachnid and Jack are safe, because we could definitely use an assist." Breakdown answered.

"Just keep that roof, Breaky. I'll get us out of here." Miko said as she began to pick up some of the rocks.

Meanwhile, at the destroyed mine's exit, Grimlock dug his way out of the rocks. He stood up, coughed, and when he turned to look the crumbled rocks he began to laugh.

"Predictable, master? Is that what you call me? Well, now who has hit rock bottom? What's that? I'm sorry, I can't hear you beneath all that rubble!" Grimlock said letting out a wicked laugh. "Farewell, Lady Elita One! May you rust in peace!" Grimlock spat and began walking away, but then he stopped himself short. "But she is as strong as Optimus is, and he has survived far worse. If you manage to free yourself, you would blame me for your setback. And there is nowhere that I could possibly escape from your sparkmate's wrath. Or worse yet, your mindless followers will come looking for you, and take credit for your rescue! Credit that could rightfully be mine! Ragh, Optimus!" Grimlock roared to the sky.

Jack continued searching on the mine for his friends.

"Airachnid! Breakdown?! Miko!" He called out, without response.

Then he discovered something parked next to the wall: an Autobot mine drill.

"Hum, that could come in handy." Jack smirked as he walked towards it.

The night came when they were still inside the mine. Miko continued to move the rocks, but she fell to the ground and began wheezing.

"Miko!" Breakdown cried.

"Phew, I'm feeling strong." Miko said.

"No, you're not." Breakdown argued.

"I just need to rest for a second. That's all." She said getting up, but she fell again.

"Miko, listen to me. There's no fresh air down here. If you use up the oxygen too fast…" Breakdown began.

"We could suffocate!" Miko realized.

"Not we, Miko. You. Decepticons don't need to breathe, remember?" Breakdowm reminded her.

"Right, smack down in outer space. That was cool. Okay, what if I just slow down? Breathe less?" She proposed before she continued trying to move more rocks.

"No. You need to stop, now." Breakdown told her.

"I can't, Breaky. I have to get you out of here." Miko retorted.

Miko tried again, but she was very weak, so she leaned against a rock.

"Miko, please. Don't worry about me." Breakdown grunted as she felt the ceiling pushing him. "I'm fine."

Jack climbed to the top of the drill. When he reached there, he pressed some of the rectangular buttons before he pressed the circular one of the center. The screen lit up and the drill came to life, so he began to drive it through the tunnels.

"Rise up." He said.

The sound of drilling was heard by Breakdown.

"Do you hear that?" Breakdown asked to Miko.

"Sounds like…" Miko began.

"Drilling! Gotta be Airachnid and Jack." Breakdown realized.

"We're in…here!" Miko called out.

"Miko, grab something and bang it on my foot. Can you do that?" Breakdown said.

Miko grabbed on rock and walked next to Breakdown's foot.

"I don't wanna hurt you." She said.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I'm tougher than I look. Give it all you got." He said.

Miko hesitate for a little before she began hitting the rock on Breakdown's foot over and over again to make noise. In the other part, Jack's drill makes a hole through the wall and backed out to see if anyone was inside. But he was surprised and terrified when he saw who was buried inside: Elita One, who looked at him.

"I suppose helping those less fortunate would be completely out of the question, handsome." Elita remarked, making Jack backed away. "If that is the case, you might as well use your drill to finish me. I guarantee you'll never have a better opportunity than right now." She said.

Jack thought about it, but he remained where he stood.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Think of the glory, seize the day. Megatron would." Elita said.

"No, he wouldn't. Not like this." He answered as he walked back to the controls.

"I will be sure to share the details of our little conversation with Optimus. So he can share them with Megatron, the day he rips out his spark!" Elita proclaimed as Jack left her alone.

Once Jack was gone, Elita One began to try to get free by herself. Miko was still hitting Breakdown's foot with the rock.

"Atta girl." He cheered.

Suddenly, they heard a strange sound.

"What was that?" Miko asked anxiously.

"Nothing. Go on, keep banging." Breakdown answered quickly.

But the sound came again.

"Breakdown. What's happening? Tell me!" Miko demanded.

"My arms! They're starting to give." Breakdown confessed.

Miko widened her eyes in horror and fear.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

"A little." Breakdown grunted.

Suddenly, the ceiling began to shake and rocks fell down.

"Breakdown!" Miko cried.

"Help's coming. We've just got to guide them here. Hit me again!" Breakdown said.

But Miko was hesitant.

"Miko, do it!" Breakdown told her.

She hit him a couple of times before drop the rock and fell to the ground. Rocks continued to crumble as they still heard the drilling noise.

"Are they any closer?" Breakdown asked.

"I can't tell. The sound is all…freaky in here!" Miko answered as she fell down again.

Then some rocks began to crumble before them, revealing an opening.

"Yes!" Breakdown cheered.

"Airachnid found us!" Miko cried with joy.

But they heard a dark laugh coming from behind the wall, and they saw the worst person who could be there in that moment.

"Put any doubt of my allegiance to rest!" Grimlock said, but he saw that he discovered other ones than who he was looking for: Breakdown and Miko.

"What's he doing down here?" Miko demanded.

"Miko, get behind me, now!" Breakdown instructed.

She dashed behind Breakdown as Grimlock made enough room for him to get inside.

"Well, well. If it isn't Breakdown and his pet vermin? My, you do have your hands full. Don't you, Decepticon?" Grimlock sneered walking around Breakdown.

"Do whatever you want to me, Grimlock! But let the human go!" Breakdown begged.

"No, I'm not leaving you." Miko cried as she hugged Breakdown's ankle.

"It appears that the human wishes to remain." Grimlock remarked as he tried to grab her, but she ran further behind Breakdown.

"Grimlock, don't push me!" Breakdown yelled ominously.

"You like to play with the big robots. Don't you, little girl?" Grimlock tormented walking around Breakdown.

He tried to grab her again, but Breakdown activated his shoulder turret and fired at him, sending him back to the wall, but that made Breakdown to slightly lose balance on the ceiling.

"That's it, Decepticon!" Grimlock growled as he stood up. "I'll…"

"You'll what? You'll what? Make me bring down the ceiling on top of all of us?" Breakdown challenged. "Run, Miko!"

Miko shook her head and hugged his ankle.

"Yes. Run, Miko. I would love to see you try. Really, I would." Grimlock smirked.

Suddenly, a drill came charging into the room and knocked Grimlock over. Breakdown looked over to see Jack on the drill.

"Jack, get Miko out of here!" Breakdown instructed.

Jack went down a little and held out his hand to her, but Miko looked at Breakdown worried.

"Come on, come on!" Jack pleaded.

"Run, Miko!" Breakdown said again.

With tears coming down her face, she grabbed Jack's hand and he pulled her up.

"We can't leave Breakdown!" Miko cried as she planted her face to the drill's surface, crying.

Jack activated the drill again and pulled it back from the area as Grimlock looked them get away.

"And then there were two." Grimlock said turning his attention at Breakdown.

Jack and Miko returned to the main tunnels.

"Airachnid will save him, won't she?" Miko asked.

"You and I just need to find a way out of here before Elita One digs herself free." Jack said.

"Optimus's girlfriend is here too?!" Miko yelled.

The drill started to advance again until a metallic foot blocked their way. They both gasped. Meanwhile…

"If you think I'm gonna beg for mercy, Grimlock, forget it." Breakdown growled.

"Yes, begging for mercy would be quite pathetic, wouldn't it? Well, you're much more valuable to me alive. Imagine Optimus's appreciation when I not only rescue his sparkmate, but deliver a Decepticon. I believe that would restore my stature quite nicely." Grimlock said getting closer to Breakdown.

Suddenly Grimlock heard the familiar sound of a charging blaster. He slowly turned around to see Airachnid aiming her blasters at him.

"Don't move, Grimlock." She threated before turning to Breakdown. "Hey Breaky."

"Hey Nid." He greeted weakly.

"Raise your hands." Airachnid ordered to Grimlock.

Grimlock whimpered nervously before he groaned. It was at dawn already when Airachnid and Breakdown drove out of the mine and let Jack and Miko to get out before they transformed and looked the mine with them.

"We could finish them, here and now." Airachnid said.

"Shame we didn't bring any grenades." Breakdown grumbled as he crushed his fists.

"Would Megatron finish them?" Jack asked.

"No, he probably wouldn't. Not like this." Airachnid said.

"But Megatron wouldn't rescue them either, right?" Miko asked.

"Let's go home." Breakdown finished as they all began walking back home.

Inside the mine, Grimlock was now where Breakdown was. Now he was the one holding the ceiling. He believed his end was close, until he saw Elita One outside, looking him.

"Elita, you're alive. Thanks the Allspark!" He said in relief.

She just stared at him.

"I did not abandon you, master. I returned. To save you!" He confessed.

"Save me?" She asked, still not believing his words.

"Look into my spark, Elita One. My intentions were true. Please! Have mercy!" Grimlock begged.

Elita thought about it, and her answer was a sinister smile.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty- Partners**

Grimlock was making a personal speech.

"I have been a fool. Made mistakes, monumental ones. I now realize I was never destined to be leader, or even an equal partner. And, I am at peace with that. I have gained a clear understanding of my place in this universe, of who I am, of who I was always meant to be. Grimlock: second in command, humble servant to Optimus Prime. Thank you for listening, all of you." He said before he went off.

"It seems that he finally got it." Smokescreen said.

"Yeah, at last." Bee added as Blaster nodded his head.

When Grimlock entered the Ark's bridge, Optimus and Elita One were talking with Arcee.

"Is this true?" Optimus demanded.

"Grimlock never mentioned it." Arcee answered.

"If he's up to his old tricks, I shall grind him into powder." Elita declared.

Grimlock coughed to signal that he was in the room.

"Grimlock." Optimus said.

"Optimus Prime, please excuse Arcee's impertinence. Now, what was it that I allegedly failed to mention?" Grimlock asked.

"The Harbinger." Optimus answered.

"What about it?" Grimlock asked again.

"Eons ago, a Decepticon transport crash-landed on this planet." Arcee said showing it on the screen.

"Oh please common knowledge. I scouted the crash site when we first arrived on Earth, looking for Decepticon survivors." Grimlock scoffed.

"Then I presume you recovered the experimental weapon prototype the Harbinger had been transporting?" Arcee asked, making Grimlock get without words.

"Where is the crash site?" Elita One demanded.

"It was never logged into your ship's database." Arcee answered.

"You failed to record the coordinates of a Decepticon transport?" Optimus yelled.

"An oversight, master, but I noted its exact location." Grimlock defended.

"Then you can lead Arcee there, so that she may retrieve the prototype for us." Optimus said as he and Elita turned around.

"My personal native guide, how delightful." Arcee remarked.

Grimlock widened his eyes before he gritted his teeth. At the same time, Airachnid was on the top of the Decepticon base, in front of Steve's grave.

"Hey, partner. Heck of a view you've got up here. If there's even a small chance your spark is out there listening, well, we could really use you, Steve. Seems like every day another Autobot arrives on the scene. We're outnumbered and outgunned. I know what you'd say: sounds like a fair fight. But if that's the world we live in, so be it. I just want you to know that I haven't given up. I'm gonna find the Bot that took you from us!" Airachnid pronounced.

Very far from there, Grimlock walked in the middle of the forest before he transformed and waited for a motorcycle to arrive and transform too, who was Arcee.

"Your chosen vehicle mode is very fast, but also quite vulnerable." Grimlock said.

"Are you going to preen or are you going to guide?" Arcee asked impatiently.

"I will reveal the exact location of the Harbinger when you tell me exactly what are we're looking for." Grimlock retorted.

"That information is need-to-know. And right now, you don't." Arcee said.

"Oh, you would do well to respect me, Arcee. Before Optimus named me second in command, I was the leader of the best Autobot destruction unit: the Lightning Strike Coalition Force." Grimlock boasted proudly.

"On Cybertron. And how many eons ago was that?" Arcee reminded.

"Just recently, I personally vanquished one of Megatron's fiercest warriors. The Vehicon Steve." Grimlock continued.

"You snuffed a Decepticon?" Arcee exclaimed slightly.

"Yes, I did. Without mercy." Grimlock added.

"Oh, even Elita One showed you mercy when she planned to terminate you in the mine." Arcee recalled.

"What? He told you about that?" Grimlock gasped.

"She was my commander on Cybertron. So, we talk." Arcee simply said.

"Grr. The wreckage lies just beneath where we stand. I will need to find a point of entry." Grimlock said.

"Em, Grimlock." Arcee called out as she pointed a hole in the ground. "It isn't that the way you entered the first time or you didn't remember that? Dinobots, always with little reasoning ability." Arcee said as she went inside the hole.

"Showoff." Grimlock simply said looking to the hole.

Seconds later, Arcee advanced very fast inside the ship with Grimlock following her.

"Suit yourself, I conducted a thorough search of this husk years ago." Grimlock said.

Then Arcee walked to over to a set of computers and turn it on.

"What are you doing?" Grimlock demanded.

"Accessing the cargo manifest. Or did you think to do that during your thorough search?" Arcee replied.

"Idiot. The ship's systems hadn't been activated for eons. The Decepticons could detect its energy signature!" Grimlock protested.

"Ah! Here it is! Section 23." Arcee smirked.

But just like Grimlock said, the ship's energy signal was detected by the Decepticons.

"Lord Megatron, our scanners have detected a Decepticon energy profile. But it's ancient." Soundwave informed.

"The past has a way of catching with the present, Soundwave." Megatron said.

Back inside the Harbinger, Arcee made her way to section 23 with Grimlock behind her.

"Section 23 should be right about…here?" Arcee finished in confusion as she saw a rock wall in front of her. "The ship just ends, it must've broken in half during the crash."

"Or in the air. If you performed actual research, you would have learnt that an Autobot battalion shot the Harbinger out of the sky." Grimlock corrected.

"How far away is the other half?" Arcee asked impatiently.

"I'm afraid that information is need-to-know." Grimlock smirked.

Arcee growled as she kicked Grimlock and threw him to the ground. Next she shot at the ceiling to trap him with some wreckage.

"What are you…?!" Grimlock began.

"You're trying to make me look like a fool before Optimus and Elita. Have me return empty handed while you located that weapon yourself." Arcee accused.

"How dare you accuse me? You're nothing but a scavenger! An opportunist!" Grimlock spat.

"Aren't you one to talk? The Dinobot who tried to take Optimus place and take control of the Autobots, when he's not able to control his own temper." Arcee retorted.

"Perhaps, but I have change, seen the error of my ways. I live to serve Optimus now." Grimlock declared.

"You won't live to serve anyone if you don't tell me where to find the rest of this ship. Now!" Arcee growled dangerously as she pulled out her wrist blades.

"A few clicks north of here through a stone arch. Now release me!" Grimlock said.

"When I have the weapon in hand. That is, if I can find my way back without my guide." Arcee replied as she walked away.

"This is not funny, Arcee! Come back here right now and cut me loose! Arcee! That is an order! I am your commanding officer!" Grimlock yelled.

Arcee smirked as she turned a corner, but then she widened her eyes as she saw the Decepticons standing before her.

"Arcee!" Airachnid growled.

"Surrender." Starscream ordered.

Arcee scurried back the way she came as Airachnid transformed into her spider mode and began chasing her.

"Arcee! You traitor!" Grimlock said as she walked over him and climbed to the hole she made to escape.

Airachnid began to drill a hole into the rock to catch up Arcee.

"Airachnid, wait!" Megatron called out.

Airachnid made it to the surface and activated her blasters, scanning the area for Arcee. Then she heard an engine noise as she was suddenly pushed back by Arcee in her vehicle form.

"Airachnid." Arcee greeted dryly.

"I didn't peg you for residing with the Autobots." Airachnid remarked as she activated her spider legs and charged.

"Well, I hadn't any intention to return with them in first place. But I just found a few advantages and surprises when I found them." Arcee said as she dodged Airachnid's attack.

Airachnid tried to kick Arcee, but she grabbed her leg and threw her on the ground, but she landed without problem. She tried to attack again, but Arcee grabbed one arm with her own arm and hooked her regular arm around her neck, even she used her feet to blockade all Airachnid's spider legs.

"Speaking of, add anymore partners to your growing list for me to snuff off? Maybe I can do it with your little human friend." Arcee tormented.

"Arcee! Release her!" Megatron demanded running towards them with his cannon ready.

Arcee growled as she pushed away Airachnid and transformed into a motorcycle. Megatron tried to her, but she avoided the blasts and drove away.

"Airachnid, you know better than to engage the enemy alone." Megatron told her.

"Not her. She's obsessed with me, especially after what I did to Tailgate." Airachnid told him remembering the scene when she was forced to attack him to escape, but she killed him, making Arcee angry. "She would not stop until she will make me pay."

"Then you must remember that revenge will not bring back those we have lost. That is something she needs to understand by herself." Megatron explained.

"Move it!" Starscream shouted.

The other Decepticons were forcing Grimlock to walk beside them as their prisoner.

"No need to use force!" Grimlock said as Breakdown pushed him to his knees. "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"Is that right? And what do you want in return?" Breakdown asked.

"I want to be on your side." Grimlock replied looking at Megatron.

"On our side?" Starscream asked before he laughed. "Yeah right! And I've lobbing with Alpha Quintesson!" He said sarcastically.

"You wouldn't betray the Autobots." Airachnid said.

"Wouldn't I? What have they done for me lately besides humiliate me? Spy on me? Demote me? Elita One tried to extinguish my spark in cold blood! Then all but replace me with that traitorous wretch Arcee! She abandoned me! Let me for scrap! So why not rat them out?" Grimlock sneered.

Megatron, Airachnid and Starscream went to talk about Grimlock's fate while Stinger and Breakdown watched him with their weapons ready, making him grunt.

"He's telling the truth about Elita trying to scrap him. I saw it with my own eyes." Airachnid said.

"You're not saying you actually trust Grimlock." Starscream said.

"Trust him? Never. But this might be the one time our objectives align." Airachnid reasoned.

"You're right to be worried, Starscream. But I agree with Airachnid." Megatron decided.

Arcee drove towards the remains of the Harbinger. When she found it, she walked inside and searched for section 23. When she found the area, she opened a pod and widened her eyes in amazement.

"Be still, my beating spark." Arcee said grabbing a green long staff which glowed emanating a blue wave of energy.

The Decepticons transformed as they arrived at the destination Grimlock told them about. During the trip, Stinger and Breakdown used a trailer to transport Grimlock as their captive.

"What do you know?" Breakdown asked seeing the rock formation in front of them.

"Could still be a trap." Starscream said.

"Grimlock's loyalty to Optimus has always been questionable. If he has truly split from the Autobots, our prisoner's knowledge of their agendas could make him a valuable ally." Megatron explained.

"You don't mean permanently? As in the keys to the base and everything?" Breakdown objected.

"However unlikely that scenario, every sentient being deserves an opportunity for redemption." Megatron said.

"Even Con killers? Even Arcee?" Airachnid demanded.

"Without that hope, we may never achieve lasting peace." Megatron answered.

"Rise and shine, Grim." Breakdown said as he pulled Grimlock out of the trailer by his legs.

"We're here. Where's the ship?" Starscream demanded.

"It's through the arch, among the stones." Grimlock answered.

They all looked where he pointed.

"Starscream, Breakdown, Stinger, you're with me. Airachnid, remain with our prisoner." Megatron instructed.

"Megatron, please. Do the right thing." Airachnid begged.

"We'll do whatever needs to be done." Megatron said before he and the others went to look for the Harbinger.

"Is the clamp really necessary? I promise not to run away. It's really giving me a crick." Grimlock said.

"I can shove you back in the trailer." Airachnid suggested, causing Grimlock to groan.

The other Decepticons advanced towards the ship.

"Be alert. Arcee is known to make quick attacks in both robot and vehicle form." Megatron warned.

"Right." Breakdown cheered sarcastically.

They continued to make their way towards the Harbinger until they finally reached the ship. As they got near the ship, Arcee came out from her hiding place a shot a blue energy wave against them. Megatron managed to roll out of its way and return fire at her, who was at the top of the ship.

"I got her." Breakdown said as he fired.

Arcee dodged the blasts and fired at Breakdown once again. The blast hit Breakdown and he stood still where he stood, something the others saw.

"The Immobilizer, true to its name." Arcee smirked as she fired again.

Meanwhile, Airachnid walked back and forth with frustration that Megatron didn't let her go.

"I'm not really so bad, you know? Optimus Prime, he's the evil one." Grimlock growled.

"Tell it to someone who cares." Airachnid said dully.

"Like whom? Arcee? What I wouldn't do to get my hands around her wretched throat." Grimlock growled.

"So we can agree on one thing." Airachnid said.

"Oh, you have no idea. She showed up one day, and the next thing you know, she's acting like she runs the place. She whispered lies into Optimus's ear, maneuvered to rob me of my rightful place!" Grimlock vented.

"Well, she caused me a lot of pain!" Airachnid growled.

"What?! She's taking credit for scrapping him now too?! That was my doing!" Grimlock declared.

"What? You weren't there." Airachnid stated.

"Of course I wasn't. I don't know what you were referring to." Grimlock corrected.

"But you said him. Who are you talking about?" Airachnid demanded suspiciously.

"No one. What were you about to say?" Grimlock asked in confusion.

"When she and Tailgate capture and torture me, forcing me to terminate him." Airachnid explained.

"Who's Tailgate?" Grimlock asked again.

Airachnid widened her eyes coming to an understanding. "You were the one. You extinguished Steve!" Airachnid yelled in rage.

"Steve?" Grimlock shrieked as Airachnid got into her fighting stance. "No! No! You misunderstand! It wasn't like you think! The troopers mortally wounded him! I was trying to help Steve! Put him out of his misery! He begged me to!" Grimlock said anxiously as he grabbed Airachnid's hands, but she kicked him. "Okay! Okay! It was a mistake! I've made many, but I've changed! You wouldn't terminate a defenseless prisoner, would you?" Grimlock reasoned.

After a few seconds, Airachnid pulled out some kind of key and threw it to the ground.

"What? What is that?" Grimlock asked.

"The key of your cuffs." Airachnid answered harshly.

"What for?" Grimlock whimpered.

"Steve would've given you a fighting chance." Airachnid pointed out.

"No! Please! I don't want to! What's past is past! I'm one of you now!" Grimlock begged.

Airachnid activated her spider legs and aimed them at Grimlock, who covered his head.

"Take it!" Airachnid yelled.

Grimlock tried to grab the keys and released his cuffs, but he dropped it by his fear.

"You're pathetic. What a Dinobot." Airachnid growled as she bent over to pick the key.

Grimlock chuckled darkly as he makes appear on his knuckles a line of small spikes and hit Airachnid with them. That made her widened her eyes and fell to her knees, leaking energon on a side of her stomach. Grimlock then took the key and unlocked the handcuffs.

"Something wrong, Airachnid? I thought you wanted a fight, and I never run away from the fights." Grimlock smirked as he took his sword and shield.

Meanwhile, the team was still fighting against Arcee and her new weapon. Stinger managed to evade another shot, but Starscream was hit in the air. Megatron tried to shot at her, but he missed. She fired at the rock where he was hidden, and when he charged and aimed his cannon, Arcee wasn't there. Stinger stood next to Megatron when Arcee drove right behind them and transformed into her robot form.

"Freeze!" She said firing again.

Megatron tried to turn around and shot faster, but the hit made him as a stone, leaving Stinger as the only one against her. At the same time, Airachnid was trying to keep her guard up against Grimlock, who was constantly trying to hit her with his big sword. She managed to blockade all his attack with her spider legs and kick him.

"You're tougher to scrap than your former partner, at least the one I scrapped. I wish I could do that again, with Arcee's partner. So tell me, was Tailgate weak like Steve?"

"Just keep talking, Grimlock." Airachnid threatened as she tried to attack again.

Meanwhile, Stinger hid behind rocks pillars as Arcee chuckled.

"Tell me, scout, do you think Optimus will enjoy his new trophies? He'll probably use the bulky one here for target practice." Arcee tormented as she pushed Breakdown to the ground. "Of course, he will use Starscream to interrogation. That's the bad thing about be second in command. Megatron is the true prize. Perhaps he'll adorn the prowl of Prime's warship." She said climbing on Megatron.

Then she fired her blasters at the pillars where Stinger was hidden, causing a lot of dust to appear. One of the blasts hit the rock wall in front of him, giving him an idea. He continued to fire at the wall until it was destroyed, creating a big cloud of dust. Then he fired at her again, and because of the dust she fired the Immobilizer randomly. When the dust cleared, she saw Stinger freeze too, making her chuckled and walk next to him.

"But you scout? I suspect Optimus will simply dismantle you for spare parts." Arcee said looking at Stinger before returning with Megatron. "As a rogue, a scout, I should disappear into the night with this treasure. But using it to worm my way into Elita's favor is too good to pass up. Wouldn't you say, Megatron?" Arcee asked Megatron, who of course gave no response. "I mean, with results like this, I could earn Optimus's eternal trust."

Then she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned and Stinger punched her on the face, meaning he was playing being freeze. She fell to the ground and the Immobilizer flew into the air, being shot by Stinger next and shatters into pieces.

"You fool!" Arcee screeched as she evaded more shots and changed into her motorcycle form.

She tried to charge against Stinger, but he rolled out of her way and she left. For Airachnid, she wasn't doing well against Grimlock. He punched her in the face with his shield, kneed her on the wound, elbowed her on the back and kicked her down a hill.

"You should have finished me when I was helpless to fight, just like I finished Steve!" Grimlock tormented.

Airachnid groaned in pain trying to stand up.

"Now, prepare to reunite with your partner!" Grimlock proclaimed raising his sword.

"This…is…" Airachnid began weakly.

"What's that? I can't hear your last words." Grimlock mocked.

"This…is for…Steve!" Airachnid yelled as she activated her extra legs.

She hit Grimlock several times until she pinned him to the ground and place a claw against his neck.

"Go on, do it! Optimus will only terminate me for treason if I dare return to the Autobots! You might as well be the one to put me out of my misery!" Grimlock said.

"As if I needed convincing." Airachnid growled as she raised her claw, ready to strike.

"What? Wait, no!" Grimlock begged.

She was about to do it when she saw Stinger at the top of the hill, and she saw the disappointment and sadness in his optics. She put her spider legs away and walked away from Grimlock, before she collapsed. Stinger slid down the hill to attend her, while Grimlock picked up his sword and shield and walked away. Arcee returned to the Ark to report to her leaders, but it seems she had blundered.

"You let Grimlock with the Decepticons?! Do you have any notion of the consequences of your blunder?!" Elita One yelled at Arcee.

"But commander, it was the Dinobot's incompetence that cost us the Immobilizer." Arcee said.

"I don't care about some trinket!" Optimus yelled at her face. "My second in command is a prisoner of the enemy! Which means all Autobot intelligence could be at the fingertips of the Decepticons!"

At the night, everyone returned back to the Decepticon base, and it looked like that Shockwave found the solution for the paralysis problem.

"The damage looked back, but it was a snap to repair. Allowing us to reverse its effect on you. You should regain your full range motion before long." Shockwave explained with the Immobilizer in hand totally repaired as Starscream, Breakdown and Megatron stretched.

"And Airachnid?" Megatron asked.

"She's rather resilient, for an eight-legger." Knock Out said.

Everyone looked at her, who was sitting with her hand covering her wounds. She looked back at them.

"It's the external wounds which heal the quickest." Megatron said.

"I though settling scores would allow me to move on. Instead I chased away our hope of winning this war anytime soon." Airachnid said.

"Wisdom cannot be granted, Airachnid, it must be earned. Sometimes at a cost." Megatron told her.

Near to the Harbinger crash site, Grimlock bagged his cuffed legs against a rock wall, until he managed to break the cuffs.

"I have been a fool. Made mistakes, monumental ones. But I have gained a clear understanding of my place in this universe. Of who I am: Grimlock, Dinobot leader. Aligned with no side, servant to no one." Grimlock said to himself.

Next he transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and ran away. Now he was on his own.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One- T.M.I**

Miko and Breakdown were watching a monster truck rally on TV, where the monster trucks jumped high and smashed other cars on their way.

"Hoo yeah!" Miko cheered while Breakdown groaned covering his face with his hand as the monster truck ran over the cars. "Munch." She yelled.

"Give it up for the baddest beast machines on the planet!" The announcer said from the TV.

"Would you mind lowering the volume?" Shockwave asked in irritation.

"Hey Knock Out! Check out the Monster Truck Rally Miko took me the last week!" Breakdown said.

"I compiled some highlights with my cell phone." Miko smiled as she took out her phone.

"Innocent vehicles battling for the pleasure of human spectators?" Knock Out asked before he shuddered. "Blood sport! I can't understand how you like that, Breakdown." Knock Out said getting back to work with Shockwave.

"Yeah!" Miko and Breakdown cheered.

"You could be helping Megatron in the field right now." Shockwave remarked.

"Aw, he doesn't need my help to save some ancient educational thing-a-ma-bob." Breakdown scoffed.

"The thing-a-ma-bob to which you refer happens to be a cybertronian data cylinder." Shockwave corrected as he pressed a button which made the television screen changed to the screen which Shockwave was seeing.

"Hey!" Miko yelled as Breakdown groaned.

"And there is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold. During the golden age, dozens of these cylinders were created. Each containing the sum total of cybertronian knowledge on any given subject: stellar cartography, medicine, ancient mythology. When the war broke out, the cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far possible from Autobot reach." Shockwave explained, making Miko yawn of boredom. "Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a…"

"Aw, T.M.I, dude!" Miko groaned.

"What?" Shockwave asked in confusion.

"Earth translation, too much information." Knock Out added.

"Switch it back, I want to see the hoedown showdown!" Breakdown demanded.

"Shockwave! Autobot ambush! The cylinder is at risk! We require backup!" Starscream said through the com-link.

"Backup's what I'm built for." Breakdown smirked as he crushed his fists and went to the ground bridge.

"Go bend some fenders, Breaky!" Miko cheered as she saw Breakdown run through the ground bridge portal.

"I have an important mission for you too, Miko." Knock Out smirked.

"Really?!" Miko asked in excitement.

"Yeah, the base needs to be at his best view for visits." Knock Out said as he handed her a mop.

"Ah!" Miko groaned as she picked it up.

But seeing that Knock Out and Shockwave were busy, she smirked, dropped the mop and went straight through the ground bridge while it was still open. When she came onto the battlefield, she covered her face from some flying debris. She looked up to see a huge fight before her. Megatron was fighting Smokescreen, Starscream was fighting Cliffjumper, Airachnid was with Arcee, Stinger was against Bumblebee, Soundwave was against the Wreckers and Breakdown was with the Autobot troopers and Aerobots. Breakdown knocked a Bot near to where she was. She looked up in shock and horror as it was about to crush her, but she jumped out of the way before it did. She hid behind a rock to continue watching the fight. She saw Megatron grabbing Smokescreen by the neck and punching him in the face.

"Decepticons, stand your ground! The artifact must not fall into enemy hands!" Megatron declared before he continued fighting.

Airachnid managed to trap Arcee with webs and run towards the cylinder, but she was tackled by Wheeljack in the process. Now he was the one running at it.

"Come to papa!" Wheeljack smirked.

He was near to it when Breakdown tackled him.

"Run to mommy!" Breakdown smiled, only to be attacked by Bulkhead from behind.

"Say uncle! Say it!" Bulkhead yelled grabbing his head.

Miko took the chance and dashed towards the cylinder. She hid behind it and used her phone.

"Shockwave, come in!" Miko said through the phone.

"Miko? This is an emergency channel! We need to keep it open for the other…! Wait! Where are you?" Shockwave asked.

"Duh! I'm with the thing-a-ma-bob!" Miko answered in frustration.

"The thing-a-ma…the data cylinder?!" Shockwave realized.

"Yes! Can you bridge it out of here?" Miko asked.

"I'll reactive arrival coordinates." Shockwave said.

Miko saw the ground bridge opened in the same place where she came from.

"Dude! Can you open it any closer?" Miko whined.

"Supply coordinates." Shockwave said.

"Uh…50 yards?" Miko guessed.

"Precise coordinates!" Shockwave specified.

After hid behind the cylinder because a shot almost hit her, Miko decided to take the cylinder to the ground bridge by her own. She tried to push it, but it was no use, so she decided to run back and got into a starting position.

"One…two…" She counted before she ran and kicked the cylinder, but she fell to the ground in the process.

Instead of moving, the cylinder started to glow as metal flags sprouted out.

"Whoa." Miko breathed.

Everyone turned towards the noise during the fight, and Breakdown was the most surprised.

"Miko?" Breakdown exclaimed as he saw her next to the cylinder expecting something bad. "No!" He said running at her, but Bulkhead hit him to the ground in front of the cylinder.

Then a red beam came from the cylinder and zapped Breakdown in the head. Once it stopped, he passed out.

"Breaky!" Miko cried as she ran towards him.

Smokescreen grabbed the cylinder and smirked. "You really took one for the team, Breakdown, my team."

A ground bridge appeared and all the Autobots went through it, as the remaining troopers transformed into jets and flew away. The Decepticons ran over to Breakdown as he slowly stood up.

"Breakdown, are you…"

"Fine. Didn't even smart." Breakdown interrupted Megatron as Miko smiled.

Now, at the base, Knock Out was running scans over Breakdown while everyone else went out of the base to search for the cylinder.

"I helped lose that thing. I wanna help find it! I need to get back in the field with Megatron." Breakdown protested as he went to stand.

"Ah, ah! You're under my watch now, Megatron's orders. I'm running a full scan on your neural network would be a wiser use of your time." Knock Out declared, sitting Breakdown back down.

"Come on, doc! There's nothing up there to scan!" Breakdown reasoned as he removed the cable connected to his head.

"He seems fine to me." Miko agreed.

Shockwave sighed. "Well, if you insist on making yourself useful, you can help Miko tidy up." Shockwave said as Knock Out passed the mop to Breakdown before they left.

"Rag, he's mad with power!" Miko groaned as Breakdown took the mop.

"That's Shockwave. Null vector squared alright." Breakdown remarked.

"What?" Miko questioned looking at Breakdown.

"Hey. We got any paint around here?" Breakdown asked as he messed with the mop.

"Art project, cool!" Miko smiled.

Meanwhile, the Autobots were analyzing the cylinder. But there was a problem with it.

"What do you mean it's empty?" Optimus demanded.

"Optimus, these cylinders are not unlike batteries. The data stored within them as a form of energy." Ratchet explained.

"It's scanned fully charged, that's how we located it to begin with. But now…" Wheeljack trailed off as he activated the cylinder, only for it to puff up in smoke.

"Dead battery." Bulkhead finished.

"Did you dropped it, you bulky one?" Elita One accused.

"No, master. I wasn't gonna touch the thing after it put the zap on Breakdown." Bulkhead defended.

"Hey, you think…" Bumblebee trailed off.

"I know. And I must find out what that vessel contained. When it comes to the secrets of the ancients, knowledge can be power." Optimus said.

Inside the Decepticon base…

"Seriously, Knock! You need to see what Breaky's painting in here!" Miko said as she walked up to Knock Out.

"Yes. I'm sure one hasn't truly lived until one has beheld Breakdown's take on Still Life with Lugnuts." Knock Out said sarcastically as he followed Miko.

"See? Did I tell you or what?" Miko exclaimed.

"The differential of 1/3 cubed is RDRR." Breakdown mumbled as he painted symbols on the wall.

"By the Allspark. Shockwave, come to see this!" Knock Out called out.

Shockwave's eye widened as he saw what Breakdown was painting. "That is not art. It's science." He corrected in shock.

When everyone was in the main hall, Knock Out ran a scan on Breakdown's head as he showed to the others.

"This hot spot you see in here is information. Data, living energy." Knock Out explained.

"Hold on. It's alive, it's on fire, and it's in Breakdown's brain?" Miko asked in disbelief.

"Chill, Miko. The data is only inhabiting a fraction of my brain. Infinitesimal by standard neural net densities. Wait, how do I know all that?" Breakdown asked in confusion.

"Based on what we witness during our skirmish, the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access." Megatron said.

"A security measure." Soundwave clarified.

"It would have jettison heavenward. Lost to the stars." Starscream continued.

"Except my fat engine block got in the way." Breakdown came in.

"Every Bot there made a grab for it, but the cylinder doesn't go off until Miko touches it?" Airachnid asked.

"The cylinders originated from Cybertron's golden age. Predating the Autobot/Decepticon division." Knock Out explained.

"So it would not consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat." Megatron added.

"Only alien life forms, such as humans." Starscream said.

"( **So what now?** )" Stinger asked.

"Are we staring at genius or gibberish?" Airachnid asked pointing the writing on the wall.

"I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes, but these equations appear to be the formula for a synthetic energon." Shockwave declared.

"( **This is our lucky day!** )" Stinger exclaimed happy.

"We hit the mother lode?" Airachnid asked in excitement.

"Miko, do you understand what this means?" Breakdown asked to her, but she drew a blank. "Energon provides our fuel, our ammo, our life force! With the natural stuff in such short supply here on Earth, this could solve a whole lot of problems!" Breakdown explained.

"Such as providing us with the edge we need to turn the tide of this war." Megatron proclaimed.

"Or handing us the key to revitalizing Cybertron." Starscream added.

"We got the goods and all Optimus got was an empty bucket." Knock Out smirked.

"How often do I get to use my noggin to save the day?" Breakdown asked.

Moments later, Breakdown continued painting the formula on metal boards while he murmured it aloud.

"Aren't you done yet?" Miko whined.

"Gotta admit. It's weird seeing Breakdown in braniac mode." Airachnid remarked.

"( **You got that right.** )" Stinger added.

When Breakdown finished with the board, Starscream take it and dragged it so Breakdown could continue with another.

"Break time! How about a lightning round of TNT Street Racer Seven?" Miko proposed, but she groaned as Breakdown continues with painting the formula.

"Got another round for you to log, Shockwave!" Starscream informed as he and Stinger carried the metal board.

As Shockwave and Soundwave were passing the formula to the data base, Megatron was watching something that Knock Out had discovered.

"This is Breakdown's neural net as you saw it earlier. This scan was recorded just minutes ago. It is as I fear. The data seems to be actively and aggressively rewriting Breakdown's neural net. I had hoped he was purging the data, but it seems to be merely transcribing it as it…" Knock Out explained.

"Consumes his mind." Megatron finished.

"From all indications, by the time Breakdown completes the formula, his own thoughts, his memories, could be wiped clean." Knock Out theorized.

"But if we stop him, goodbye synthetic energon." Starscream sulked.

"You assume we possess a means of stopping him. I don't exactly have instant access to the wisdom of the ancients." Knock Out said.

"I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed. No matter the cost." Megatron declared.

"If the living data transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we can somehow coax it back inside." Shockwave pondered.

"How are supposed to get it back from the Autobots?" Starscream asked.

"Optimus will bring it to us." Megatron answered.

Breakdown continued to paint the formula without stopping. Meanwhile, Miko walked over to Breakdown with her electric guitar. She heard Breakdown muttering something about amplified and smirked.

"You want amplified?" She asked as she plugged the cord to the speakers.

"Providing preceptor paradox is nothing of the kind." Breakdown ignored.

Miko strummed the note on the guitar, releasing a loud noise. Breakdown dropped the mop and covered his ears in pain.

"What is that?" Breakdown demanded.

"Metal! You love this song!" Miko answered.

"I'm trying to concentrate." Breakdown retorted.

"Urgh! You're starting to sound just like Shockwave!" Miko shouted.

"Who?" Breakdown asked.

That made Miko widened her eyes in shock, so she went to tell that to Knock Out.

"Knock! I think Breaky's losing his mind!" Miko told him, but the surprised look on his face help her realized. "You already know."

"Miko, we didn't want to frighten you. But rest assured, Megatron has a plan." Knock Out reassured.

"Megatron isn't Breakdown's doctor. I just need to know, when Breaky's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being regular old Breakdown, right?" Miko asked.

There was a silence between the two of them as Miko closed her eyes in pain. Meanwhile, Optimus was on the Ark's bridge when Bumblebee came towards him.

"Optimus Prime, we've detected a familiar energy profile." Bee informed.

"The data?" Optimus questioned.

"Breakdown must have left the shielded radius of their base." Wheeljack informed.

"We Wreckers will…" Bulkhead began.

"Fail me again?" Optimus growled.

"I will take care of this by myself." Elita One proposed.

"Are you sure of this, dear?" Optimus asked.

"Don't worry. You know that I can stand even against Megatron." She responded before she left along with an entire squadron of Aerobots.

In the middle of the night, Elita One flew towards the signal with the Aerobots. They all stopped in the air, transformed and landed on the ground. But she found a surprise.

"Megatron. You are certainly not the Decepticon I expected to find here. But let me guess, you rigged a transponder to mimic the frequency of the data I seek." Elita deduced.

"Elita, I have a proposal." Megatron began.

The other Autobots activated their weapons and prepared to fire, but Elita raised her hand, telling them to not attack, and they obeyed her.

"I'm…listening." She said.

"Surrender the cylinder and I will return it to you fully restored." Megatron offered.

"This trinket right here?" Elita smirked as she held the cylinder. "And pray tell, what trifles did it hold that you are so anxious to give away?"

"Accept my terms, and you will find out." Megatron answered.

Meanwhile at base, Miko was trying to make Breakdown remember.

"Do you remember any of your old mates from your team?" Miko asked anxiously.

"Who?" Breakdown asked as he continued writing the formula.

"The Stunticons!" Miko yelled. "Your best buds, besides me of course."

Breakdown didn't respond as he continued writing the formula.

Miko groaned. "Do you even know who I am?" She asked.

"Of course, you're…" Breakdown trailed off, trying to remember.

Miko's eyes looked at this with sadness as he didn't say anything and finished with another part of the formula on another board.

"Keep them coming, Breakdown." Knock Out encourage as he took the board away.

Miko looked back at Knock Out and thought of something. She walked over to the keyboard and typed in coordinates, activating the ground bridge. Next she grabbed the mop from Breakdown's hand and walked over to the ground bride.

"Come on. You wanna finish your formula, don't you?" Miko smiled.

Meanwhile, in the place where Megatron and his Decepticons were in front of Elita One…

"Do you accept my proposal?" Megatron asked.

"Lady Elita One." Smokescreen said through his com-link.

"Give me a moment." Elita requested as she walked away.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked.

"It's complicated." Elita answered.

"Well, the Wreckers and I may have located the bogey. Fully charged." Smokescreen said.

"Proceed." Elita said.

"Just one hitch. We don't have the cylinder." Smokey reminded.

"Then bring me the head of Breakdown." Elita instructed.

Miko brought Breakdown to the monster truck rally arena still attempting to refresh his memory.

"Look! You love monster trucks! Remember when we snuck in here after the show last week?" Miko asked.

"Mass times the fusion rate square is constant." Breakdown ignored as he painted more symbols on the wall.

"Is any of this ringing a bell?" Miko sighed.

"Bell curve? No, no, no. That wouldn't factor in." Breakdown shook his head.

"How about our Sunday morning dune bashings? Rocking out to Slash Monkey? Helping me with my homework? Ah, trick question, you know I don't do homework…don't you?" Miko slightly whimpered. "Okay. Forget the past! Starting now, we can make new memories."

Breakdown continued speaking more of the formula while painting it. Miko bit her lip and slightly clenched her fist to her chest.

"Breakdown, I know somewhere inside you, you'll always remember me. And I just want you to know…I'll never forget you." Miko said sadly as she hugged Breakdown's leg.

"Boo hoo! I'm shedding lubricant!" A voice called out sarcastically.

Miko widened her eyes as she turned around to see Smokescreen, Bulkhead and Wheeljack standing on the other side of the stadium.

"Follow me right now or these guys are gonna…steal the formula!" Miko yelled.

Breakdown widened his eyes and looked at her. "My equations!"

"Come on! Come on!" Miko beckoned Breakdown as she ran, which made Breakdown follow her.

"Not like Breakdown to run from a fight." Bulkhead remarked.

"I'm afraid our friend has a little too much to think." Wheeljack said after he jumped from the stands and landed in the arena with Bulkhead following him.

"Elita One, we are good." Smokescreen reported through the com-link.

Elita received the transmission.

"Megatron, upon careful consideration, if you want the cylinder, you'll have to take it." Elita declared.

The Aerobots began to attack, forcing the Decepticons to take cover and take down their enemies one by one. At the same time, the Wreckers and Smokescreen reached themselves in a parking full with lot of monster trucks.

"Okay then, fun and games." Smokescreen said slightly irritated as they separated to search for Breakdown. "Come out, come out wherever you are." Smokey tormented.

Inside the parking, Miko hid next to Breakdown, who was in vehicle form, and she tried to call Knock Out, but she only received static.

"The Bots are scrambling the signal." Miko groaned in frustration.

"But the trisector of the polygon is an integral subset!" Breakdown said about the formula.

"Quiet! And whatever you do, keep still. I'm going to see if I can get far enough to call for backup." Miko said as she ran away from him.

Some moments later, she was forced to hide because Wheeljack was searching very near. He knelt down and looked under the trucks, but he found nothing and walked away. Miko was hidden under the truck's bottom, when she saw Wheeljack away she landed and continued running. Bulkhead was smashing the monster trucks as he walked next to them.

"Breakdown. Is that you?" Bulkhead called out as he knelt down and tapped the glass of the window of another truck before smashing it.

Miko walked next to him, so he tried to reach her throwing a truck where he believed she was hidden.

"Bulkhead, forget the human. Games are only fun to play when you're winning." Wheeljack called out.

Miko tried to call for backup hidden under another track, but her phone still received only static, just the same moment when Smokescreen followed the signal's reading on the scanner.

"I think I'm warm." Smokescreen said as he stood in front of Breakdown.

Then Breakdown transformed and took out his mop and he muttered the formula once more as he painted a piece of the formula on Smokescreen's chest.

"You've painted me! You're going to regret that!" Smokescreen declared.

Then Bulkhead ran up to Breakdown and he hit Breakdown on his face, knocking him out. Miko heard the noise and saw Breakdown unconscious, with Wheeljack over him with his swords ready.

"Heads, you lose." Wheeljack smirked.

"No!" Miko screamed.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons finished killing all the Aerobots.

"Well in that case, no one gets it!" Elita declared as she crushed the cylinder and dropped it to the ground, before she transformed and flew away.

"Lord Megatron! Breakdown and Miko have abandoned base. I have their ground bridge coordinates." Knock Out reported through the com-link.

"Bridge us back, immediately." Megatron ordered.

In that moment, Miko watched in horror as Wheeljack was about to cut off Breakdown's head. Miko decided to take action and grabbed a metal pole with she tried to hit Wheeljack, but she missed, tripped and hit Breakdown's head. Suddenly Breakdown's eyes opened and glowing red. The Autobots gasped as two red beams shot from his eyes.

"Not again." Bulkhead cursed.

"Get down!" Smokescreen yelled as they three got to the floor.

"I did it again?" Miko asked in shock.

The red beams stopped shooting out of Breakdown's eyes and take off into outer space.

"Breakdown?" Miko asked as tears formed in her eyes.

Wheeljack scanned Breakdown for any remaining energy, but found nothing.

"Dead battery. Prime will peel our paint for losing that data." Wheeljack proclaimed.

"So we're gonna have to peel you." Bulkhead declared as Wheeljack began to approach his sword to her.

Then a ground bridge appeared and the Decepticons came to help.

"Or peel out of here." Smokescreen said as he, Wheeljack, Bulkhead ran off.

They crashed through a wall before they transformed and drove off. The Decepticons stopped attacking and heard a loud sound.

"Breakdown." Miko whimpered as she cried on Breakdown, with the Decepticons went around them.

They brought Breakdown back to base, who was lying in the medical bay unconscious while Knock Out ran scans over Breakdown.

"The data has been fully expelled, but Breakdown remains completely unresponsive." Knock Out reported.

"Because the energy took Breakdown's mind with it. Heavenward, lost to the stars. It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula. And it's my fault Breakdown's gone forever." Miko said sadly sobbing.

"Miko, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Autobot hands." Megatron reassured.

"If anyone would have backed that play, it's Breakdown." Starscream added.

"It's simply too early to know the extent of his condition. Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell; perhaps even a sound could trigger Breakdown's awakening." Shockwave informed.

Miko's eyes widened as she came with an idea. She plugged the cord to the speakers, held her guitar and played a random note. The sound echoed throughout base as Miko looked over to see Breakdown still unconscious. She hung her head sadly, until everyone heard a groaning sound as they turned to see Breakdown slowly waking up.

"Breakdown?" Miko asked hopefully.

Breakdown slowly sat up while humming the tunes of the song and pretending to strum a guitar.

"I love that song!" He smiled. "Miko!" Breakdown said looking at her, what made her smile again.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two- Improved**

Knock Out was looking some kind of energon through a microscope.

"Hm, surprisingly stable." Knock Out observed.

"Hey, Knock Out. Is that synthetic energon?" Raf asked.

"Well, yes. In fact, I'm preparing to test a sample." Knock Out answered as he took a bunk of that energon, which was green, not blue like normal energon. "I see that you come equipped with protective goggles."

"I can watch?" Raf asked in excitement.

Knock Out simply chuckled. "We just add some to this test engine."

Knock Out injected the synthetic energon into the engine. The two of them waited for something, until the engine came to life as the energon changed from blue to green.

"It works!" Raf exclaimed walking over to the engine. "Sting!"

"Oh, hold right there, buddy. This iteration of the formula requires further trial before we can even think about using it for fuel, ammunition or first aid. Which is rather unfortunately since our own energon reserves are at an all-time low. Our several outnumbered warriors have been rapidly burning through our stockpile of late as the Autobot army continues to run us ragged and grind us down. Natural energon is in such short supply on your planet and Optimus Prime seems to have his oily claws buried deep in all of the Earth's deposits. But if we can successfully produce a synthetic form, we can manufacture all the energy we'll ever need." Knock Out explained.

Suddenly the alarms went off as the computers showed a familiar signal.

"More energon on the move." Airachnid observed.

"Ugh, again?" Breakdown said, really tired.

"Their recently activity suggest a familiar pattern. The Autobots are desperately scouting for new deposits to mine." Megatron proclaimed. "Decepticons…"

"Megatron." Knock Out called out as he walked up to him. "If one of you comes back wounded this time…well, our energon reserves are nearly depleted."

"Understood. Activate the ground bridge. Decepticons, rise up!" Megatron said as they all went through the ground bridge, leaving Knock Out alone.

Knock Out sighed, something that Raf noticed. "You are okay, Knock Out?"

"Yes, it's only that recently I've been outside of the action for a very long time. Sometimes I wish I could do more." Knock Out said.

Then an idea came to his head. He grabbed a sample of the synthetic energon, put it inside a needle and injected the substance into his arm. Knock Out gasped as his eyes turned green; next he dropped the needle and fell over backwards unconscious. After some time, Knock Out heard someone calling his name.

"Knock Out! Wake up!" Raf said on top of him.

"How is it that such small beings can be so loud?" Knock Out groaned as he slowly stood up while Raf jumped off of him.

"Are you hurt? You fell." Raf said.

"I'm fine. I'm…more than fine." Knock Out answered as he checked his reading. "Ah, energy efficiency is up 30%? Motor functions more than optimal?" He observed as he laughed before turning to Raf. "Any word from the others?"

Raf simply shook his head. It was nightfall when the Wreckers and Bumblebee were driving away from the Decepticons inside a big canyon.

"Bee! Can we just bridge out of here? This cube is putting some serious drag on me!" Bulkhead said with a massive energon cube strapped on to his roof.

"The more we give the Decepticons a workout, the more fuel they burn. And we win the energon race." Bumblebee retorted.

"Besides, here comes air support." Wheeljack added.

A big squadron of Aerobots dove in and fired some missiles. Those didn't aim for the Decepticons, instead they hit the canyon's walls, creating a rock fall. The Autobots went through before it blocked the Decepticons. But Starscream managed to accelerate and continued chasing them. The other Decepticons transformed and aimed their weapons at the Aerobots, but they flew over all of them.

"Starscream, fall back! You're outnumbered!" Megatron ordered through his com-link.

"With all due respect, my liege, we're always outnumbered! We need that energon!" Starscream retorted as he continued the pursuit.

"Can you make a ground bridge on his location?" Airachnid asked to Soundwave.

"Negative, these rocks do not allow me to lock on Starscream's signal." Soundwave informed.

"Knock Out, lock onto Starscream's coordinates and prepare an emergency ground bridge." Megatron requested.

"I'm locked on. Starscream, decelerate and prepare to return to base." Knock Out informed.

"Save it, Knock Out. I'm too close." Starscream said.

"Don't be a fool!" Knock Out slightly yelled.

Before Starscream could reach the Autobots, the Aerobots fired another wave of missiles at him. He managed to dodge a few of them, but one hit him, causing him to transform and slid on the ground, something that Knock Out noticed by seeing his vitals.

"He's hurt." Knock Out said before activating the ground bridge. "Man the ground bridge." He said to Raf as he transformed and drove inside the portal.

Starscream pushed himself up but he could not fully stand up. He looked up to see the Aerobots transform and surround him in a circle. One of them walked up to him and activated his blaster, ready to execute him. But then a ground bridge appeared in the sky and Knock Out flew out of it. He crashed into one of the Aerobots and threw him to another one. Next he began to attack them with his buzz saws, slicing their arms and shooting at the most far away.

"Knock Out?" Starscream asked in shock.

Knock Out continued battling all the Bots, eliminating them with great martial arts, one by one, something that Bee and the Wreckers saw.

"Looks like the Decepticons brought in a ringer." Bulkhead remarked.

"Well, then we'll ring his bell." Wheeljack declared before they were shot by the other Decepticons.

"It'll have to wait." Bee said as he and the Wreckers drove off, but they didn't saw Soundwave's tentacle grab the energon cube.

"Hey, that's mine!" Bulkhead yelled.

"Finders keepers." Soundwave responded as they drove away.

Knock Out finished with the last Bot when the rest of the team reached there. Stinger and Airachnid helped Starscream to his feet while all of them saw Knock Out putting his foot on a dead pile of Aerobots as one survivor tried to attack him from behind, but Knock Out punched him in the face.

"Hooah." Knock Out smirked.

Raf activated the ground bridge, allowing the Decepticons to return to base.

"What happened?" Raf asked as everyone came through the ground bridge.

"I only saw the gory aftermath. But I hear the doc was a one Con wrecking machine!" Breakdown remarked.

Knock Out picked up Raf, who yelped in shock. "Hey little fella!" Knock Out smiled to him before putting him down.

"Alright. What's your secret?" Starscream asked.

"No secret. Just a little something I like to call synthen." Knock Out said as he picked up a vial of synthetic energon and threw it to Airachnid.

"From the data Breakdown transcribed?" Airachnid asked.

"It supposed that the formula was…" Soundwave began.

"Incomplete? Ha, not anymore." Knock Out stated proudly.

"( **Whoa, this stuff is incredible!** )" Stinger said looking the vial before passing it to Breakdown.

"So Knock Out makes a better tough guy than I do a smart guy?" Breakdown asked as he passed the vial to Shockwave.

"Knock Out, I don't think is logical that you used yourself as a test subject for a prototype substance." Shockwave said.

"Shockwave, you didn't see Knock Out out there! He was in overdrive!" Starscream exclaimed.

"We should all try this stuff!" Airachnid suggested.

"Or give Knock Out more so we can take a vacation." Breakdown added as Shockwave passed the vial to Megatron.

"I agree that the initial results seem promising, but I recommend that further testing be confined to machines, not Decepticons. Outnumbered though we may be, old friend. We need a warrior in the laboratory right now, more than we need another in the field." Megatron said.

Sometime after, Knock Out was telling his fella Breakdown about his epic battle in one of the base's rooms.

"And then he came right at me!" Knock Out explained as he kicked in the air. "And I…well, come on, Breaky. Come at me!"

"I don't want to hurt you, Knock." Breakdown said with worry, only to be slapped in the face by Knock Out.

"I said come at me!" Knock Out demanded.

"Okay! Stating that I have warned you!" Breakdown shouted.

Breakdown growled as he transformed his hand into a hammer. He charged at Knock Out and tried to hit him, only for Knock Out to pick him up and throw him at the wall, even passing through it by the force.

"Hooah!" Knock Out cheered.

"What was that?" Airachnid asked walking in with Stinger, while Breakdown only groaned.

"You have competition, Breaky. I'm a bit stronger than I used to be, also a bit faster, hehe. Think you can take me, muscle car?" Knock Out challenged Stinger as he threw a fake punch at him.

"( **No, you're better.** )" Stinger answered.

"Wimp." Knock Out said as he passed him. "How's it humming?" He clicks passing next to Airachnid.

"Did he just…?" Airachnid questioned.

"Stronger, faster, studlier." Breakdown remarked as he rubbed his head.

Knock Out opened one cabinet in a hallway, revealing synthetic energon inside.

"I need to be at the top of my game. Our survival depends upon it." Knock Out proclaimed as he took more of it and injected himself.

Moments later, the sensor's alarm rang, bringing all the Decepticons to see what happened.

"Lord Megatron, energon signal detected." Soundwave informed.

"Looks like the Bots hit another vein." Starscream stated.

"Decepticons, rise up!" Megatron proclaimed.

"Hey, hey. Shouldn't we wait for our secret weapon?" Breakdown interrupted.

"This mission is unlikely to require medical expertise." Megatron said.

"But you never know if it may require additional firepower. Stinger, Soundwave and Shockwave can handle ground bridge duty." Knock Out said as he was leaning against the wall before walking to the ground bridge.

"( **Well, if he says so.** )" Stinger said going to the ground bridge controls.

"Time to put some hurt on those Autobots." Knock Out declared.

Moments later in the exact coordinates, Knock Out sprinted down a hillside, showing a lot of fast moves, while Megatron, Starscream, Airachnid and Breakdown followed him. They hid behind some rocks when they located a big number of Autobot troopers, Aerobots, tanks and helicopters guarding the area while a miner was drilling on the wall.

"Signal's weak. They may have hit a vein, but they won't find much of an energon pulse. Not here." Starscream observed looking the scanner.

"I take some comfort in the fact that Prime seems as desperate to find the stuff as we are." Airachnid remarked.

"Do you two always talk this much during these missions?" Knock Out asked in irritation before he transformed into his alt mode and drove down the hill, making the others followed him.

"Decepticons!" An Autobot trooper shouted seeing Knock Out coming, so he and his comrades pulled out their weapons and began firing at him.

Knock Out managed to evade all the shots and hit one of the troopers before returning back to his robot form.

"It's alright. I'm a style vehicle." Knock Out remarked pulling out his buzz saws before start attacking.

Then the rest of the team came down and fired at the other Autobots. After Knock Out finished the first Autobot, he saw the miner climbing up the rock wall and making his escape. Knock Out climbed the wall to follow him. When he reached the top, he grabbed a rock and threw it at the Autobot, knocking him to the ground. Before the Autobot had time to get up, Knock Out pinned him on the ground.

"Why the big rush?" Knock Out asked casually.

"Just trying to get as far as I can from the Decepticon stink." The miner responded.

"Does your boss know you have a putty mouth? Maybe I should pay him a visit and tell him." Knock Out decided.

"Get melted, wheel grinder!" He spat.

"Melted? Well, there's a concept." Knock Out said as he turned his hand into a small drill. "I won't ask you a second time. Where is Optimus Prime?" He repeated as he approached the drill to the miner's head.

Breakdown finished the last Autobot when the entire team heard a loud painful scream, coming from the top. When they reached the top, they widened their eyes for what they were looking: Knock Out was torturing an Autobot by drilling his face.

"That's all I know! Really!" The miner cried in pain, until Knock Out stopped.

"Now was that so difficult?" Knock Out said as he changed his hand into a buzz saw.

He was going to deliver the final blow, but Starscream grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Knock Out, what are you doing?" Starscream demanded.

"Getting results." Knock Out answered as the miner got up as quickly as he could and ran off.

"And breaking protocol. That was an Autobot miner. Servant class, not warrior class." Starscream remembered.

"Oh, and let me guess. I'm just the medic." Knock Out hissed.

"Decepticons do not inflict harm unless all other options have been exhausted. It is what separates us from the Autobots." Megatron reminded.

Knock Out only scoffed. "Is this really the time for another lecture, Megatron? You didn't just happen to discover Optimus Prime's current location, did you? Well, I did! And do you happen to know where there's a stockpile of raw energon ripe for the taking? I do!" Knock Out shouted.

"Come on, Knock Out. Calm it down." Breakdown pleaded him.

"Calm is the last thing we need! Calm is what lost us Cybertron! The Bots have a warship, an army! All this energon scouting! You think Optimus isn't gearing up for something big?! We're squandering our resources, chasing after his crumbs! When we really need to be hitting him hard, and hitting him now! Precisely where it hurts!" Knock Out snapped.

"A direct assault on the Autobots would only provoke retaliation, and lead to incalculable losses. I will not endanger innocent human lives." Megatron objected.

"Yet you seem to have no problem endangering ours! Just ask Steve! Oh, I forgot! He couldn't be here today!" Knock Out retorted.

"That's it!" Airachnid yelled as she tried to tackle him, but Breakdown held her back as she struggled.

"You know your problem, Megatron? For such a big, strong Con and a former gladiator, you're soft! You didn't pound Optimus into scrap when you had the chance! Many chances in fact!" Knock Out tormented.

"I'm afraid that the synthetic energon has impaired your judgment, old friend. I am confining you to base until further notice. Soundwave, bridge us back." Megatron said.

Breakdown let go Airachnid as the ground bridge portal appeared.

"Fine." Knock Out sighed as he walked through the portal.

Breakdown walked to the portal when suddenly Knock Out came back and tackled him to the ground. While the others went next to Breakdown, Megatron heard a transformation noise followed by an engine noise and he saw Knock Out drive off. All the Decepticons returned to base and tried to locate Knock Out on the computer.

"Soundwave, do you have something?" Starscream asked.

"Negative. Can't get a fix on Knock Out's coordinates." He responded.

"That bogus energon must be scrambling his signal." Breakdown deduced.

"Keep trying. We've got to find Knock Out, before he finds Optimus." Megatron proclaimed.

Meanwhile, inside another energon mine, the Autobot miners were working taking a lot of energon, while Wheeljack and Bulkhead were walking around and talking with one of the miners.

"Yeah, she's kind of lonely and not allows anyone to step in her way, but I find myself intrigued by her." Bulkhead confessed.

"What? You can't be serious, Bulk. After all, you're a Wrecker and she's a two-wheeler." Wheeljack said.

They heard a whistle as they turned to see Knock Out casually walking through the mine.

"I was wondering when you might show." Wheeljack remarked.

"This is going to be fun." Bulkhead said getting ready to fight.

Knock Out only smirked. In other side of the mine, Optimus Prime and Elita One were having a discussion with Ratchet.

"You call yourself a scientist? You were supposed to have located a fresh energon source by now." Elita said.

"Apologies, Elita and Optimus. All of we got a little distracted by the new elite Decepticon who attack us." Ratchet informed.

"Really? And what new elite Decepticon would that be?" Optimus demanded.

Suddenly Bulkhead came flying above them and crashed into a wall, and they heard a loud noise and turned to see Wheeljack falling to the floor with a thud, and Knock Out right behind him.

"Hooah." Knock Out smirked.

"That's the one! The one unstoppable!" Ratchet yelled.

"Really?" Elita said in disbelief.

"That is your fearsome new adversary?" Optimus asked before he laughed. "He's Megatron's medic."

"Oh no, Prime. I am the doctor who is going to knock you out." Knock Out corrected.

Then Knock Out charged and punched Elita One in the face, sending her flying to the wall with Ratchet in shock and Optimus really affected. She slowly got up and wiped the small bit of energon that was coming from her mouth. That made Optimus really angry.

"All right then." Optimus said putting himself in front of Knock Out.

"For Cyber…!" Knock Out charged, only for Optimus to grab his hand and twist his whole arm, causing him to scream in pain.

"Knock Out is rather more spirited than I recollect." Optimus observed.

"Chemical enhancement perhaps?" Ratchet guessed.

Then Optimus punched a hole in Knock Out's chest, causing him to gasp in shock. The synthetic energon began to spill from his body as Optimus threw him to the ground before he picked up Elita One with his both hands, because she was still weakened.

"There's your laboratory sample, old friend. Find out. If a chemical can do this for Megatron's lapdog, imagine what it can do for our troops." Optimus said as he walked away.

"Megatron, I've been a fool." Knock Out said in a weak voice in a puddle of synthetic energon, as his eyes turned blue again.

Fortunately, the Decepticons detected him.

"Megatron, Knock Out's signal. It's back online." Soundwave informed.

"Stinger." Megatron began.

"( **Understood.** )" Stinger said activating the ground bridge.

"Decepticons, rise up!" Megatron said as he, Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave transformed and went through the portal.

The four main Decepticons appeared inside the energon mine, so they began to shot at all the Autobots who tried to stop them. At the same time, Ratchet grabbed and examined one of Knock Out's synthetic energon vials.

"Doctor to doctor, I must say, your contribution to the Autobot cause is very much appreciated. I'll be sure to boast of your accomplishment when you're gone. Which will happen in three…two…one." Ratchet counted down as he was about to cut off Knock Out's head with his blade.

Then they heard an explosion and gunfire, so they realized that the Decepticons had found their location.

"Scrap." Ratchet cursed.

Knock Out took the opportunity and kicked Ratchet while clutching his wound. Ratchet was sent away from Knock Out, causing him to drop the vial of the energon. Ratchet recovered, changed his blade into a blowtorch and charged at Knock Out, only for him to grab his neck and his wrist. Ratchet used his strength to try to injure Knock Out with his torch. Some Autobot heavy troopers ( **the ones seen in War for Cybertron** ), who could transform into heavy vans, tried to shot at the Decepticons with their heavy guns, but they managed to defeat them and continued looking for Knock Out, who felt a little the effect of the torch, but he moved it and head-butted Ratchet, causing him to stumble back.

"You should not have messed with the Doctor of Doom." Ratchet smirked as he changed his other hand into a blade.

Ratchet charged at him again, but Knock Out moved out of the way and Ratchet's blade cut through the stone, causing it to be stuck. While he tried to pull his arm out, Knock Out walked to the vial and grabbed it, but he heard Ratchet laugh.

"What are you going to do? Drink it?" Ratchet asked.

Knock Out looked the vial before looking at his injury, and knew what caused that.

"No, I'm going to destroy it." Knock Out declared before he threw the vial at the wall near to Ratchet and it shattered.

In that moment, Ratchet pulled his arm out of the rock. "You idiot! I needed that!"

Then Knock Out fell to the floor, unconscious. Ratchet widened his optics as he saw the Decepticons coming his way after defeated all the troopers, so he transformed into an ambulance and drove off. The Decepticons went next to Knock Out to help him. After that, Knock Out was lying down on a medical bed at base with a tube on his wounded chest. He tried to get up, but Megatron laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy, old friend. You lost a lot of energon. Good and bad." Shockwave informed.

"I…I didn't intend to hurt anyone. I…just wanted so badly to…" Knock Out trailed off.

"Help us? We know. But you nearly caused the loss of something irreplaceable. Our medic and most trusted friend." Megatron said.

"But of course, you did lead us to a much needed energon supply." Starscream said as he, Breakdown and Stinger came with a lot of energon cubes.

"And for that we should all be thankful." Megatron said, making Knock Out smile.

"The synthetic energon formula clearly needs refining before it can be tested again. On machines, not Decepticons." Shockwave decided.

"Let us take comfort in the fact that you were able to dispose of the quantity that remained." Megatron nodded.

But in the energon mine, Ratchet returned and found a single, tiny drop of the synthetic energon, more of enough to recreate it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three- Doomed Prophecy**

"And it was written in the Covenant of Primus that when the 47 spheres align, a perpetual conflict will culminate upon a world forged from chaos. And the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness." Megatron said as he read a scripture on the computer.

"No skies raining fire?" Airachnid asked sarcastically.

"Goes without say. It is a doom prophecy after all." Starscream pointed out.

"I say it's a load of hooey." Breakdown remarked.

"I always assumed the ancients were referring to our home planet. But being that Cybertron has been dark for eons." Shockwave said.

"And considering what has befallen this planet since Optimus's arrival here." Megatron continued.

"Whoa whoa whoa! We've known about these superstitions for ages and never gave them a second thought!" Breakdown protested.

"Why all the ominous rumblings now?" Knock Out asked.

"Because the planetary alignment, to which the prophecy refers, is nearly upon us." Megatron answered.

"And it would seem its endpoint…is Earth." Soundwave said showing the planets on the screen.

"Uh…crazy coincidence, right?" Breakdown tried to joke.

"How long are we talking?" Airachnid asked.

"A few days, at most." Soundwave answered.

"However unsettling this revelation may be, I am more concerned about those who may believe that the prophecy speaks to them alone." Megatron spoke gravely, referring to a specific Autobot.

The time of the prophecy was noted inside the Autobot warship too.

"I did not seek out the blood of Unicron to simply keep my spark aflame, but to rule undead armies and conquer worlds. And to accomplish that, I require more than this mere sliver which lies within me. So where is my dark energon?!" Optimus demanded angrily to Ratchet.

"Out there, Lord Optimus Prime. Just waiting for you to reach out and pluck it." Ratchet answered with enthusiasm, causing Optimus to give him an irritated look.

"But you shouldn't push yourself so hard. You had setbacks, you were in stasis." Bumblebee reminded, but then Optimus grabbed him and held him in the air.

"Precisely why I must make up for lost time! I can see the future, vividly, but I must ensure its outcome. For I am the rising darkness of which the prophecy speaks!" Optimus declared as he saw a vision of himself raising his sword while pinning someone to the ground.

At the next day, the children were looking at a conspiracy website about clues about alien lifeforms.

"Pass…nah-ah…kid in a costume…balloon…nope…hold!" Jack stopped Raf as they found a picture of Stinger. "Camera sure loves Sting."

"What can you do? When you're a superstar, you're paparazzi bait." Miko said.

"Wait, is that Stinger?" Starscream asked coming to them.

"On a conspiracy website. Where users post evidence of close encounters. But we have it under control, Starscream. We just scrub and replace Sting with…" Raf said as he put a picture of a cat in an astronaut suit.

"Mars cat says, take me to your feeder." The picture played.

That made Starscream laugh a little, something he realized very late.

"Starscream actually laughed?" Miko observed before Starscream left the room.

"Megatron, you wanna see something funny?" Jack offered.

"No." Megatron answered.

"Don't take it personally. Cybertronian gladiators are built that way." Airachnid said.

"Never seem Megatron laugh, cry, or lose his cool." Knock Out added.

"While Megatron certainly keeps his emotions in check, Soundwave and I've known him far longer than any of you have, and he was different before he was made the Decepticon leader." Shockwave said.

"Megatron wasn't always the leader of the Decepticons?" Raf asked in surprise.

"On Cybertron, one isn't born into greatness rather one must earn it." Shockwave explained.

"So different how? We talking…party animal?" Miko asked.

"No, no. Megatron was more like…Jack." Shockwave answered.

"What? I'm nothing like Megatron." Jack said surprised.

Suddenly, a transmission of agent Silas interrupted them.

"Megatron! Those tech heists my department's been tracking. We figured it was the Star Seekers on their kind of stealth tactics. Until moments ago when a security feed at the Pennington Airs Particle Collider captured this." Silas said as he showed them a pictured of a certain Autobot.

"Blaster." Jack observed.

"Raf can swap that out for you with a funny cat." Miko added.

"The Bot without a face made off with a cutting edge phase conductor. Here's a list of everything else we've confirmed stolen to date." Silas said.

"Plasma injector, neutron shield, tesseract? There is only one thing missing if they intend to build what I'm thinking." Shockwave deduced.

Aboard the Autobot warship…

"The Autobot space bridge 2.0 is nearly ready to launch." Bee said. "All we require is…"

Blaster came with an image of the last material.

"What Blaster said, an ample power source." Ratchet said.

"This one lies within a highly fortified location. By human standards, we could tunnel in." Arcee added.

"The time of the prophecy is nearly upon us!" Optimus yelled, making all of them glanced at each other nervously, especially Elita One.

"In that case, we can no longer afford stealth." Elita said.

The next day, Silas called the Decepticons again.

"Megatron! The Bots really stepped in at this time. They hit a U.S military lab. Our boys will take care of them until your team show." Silas informed.

"Agent Silas, I fear that Optimus's desperation may be at its zenith. And you know that I cannot condone even a single human casualty." Megatron proclaimed.

Silas sighed before he pressed a button on his headset. "Silas here. Evacuate all personnel, immediately!"

On the military base, the soldiers were holding their ground until they received the order.

"Retreat!" A soldier said to the others.

Then some Autobot tanks came from the smoke and covered some heavy troopers who were carrying the power source, until a ground bridge appeared and the Decepticons came through and started attacking them. Even with some Aerobots coming to them, the Decepticons managed to hold their ground against a lot of enemies, so one of them contacted with the Ark.

"Lord Optimus Prime, package secure. But the Decepticons have arrived."

That made Optimus to growl in frustration. "Prepare the warship for rendezvous! The package will be ready for pickup!" He said before he left the warship, landed on the ground and transformed to drive to the military base.

Near to there, Stinger was playing with Raf, who was inside him while he was driving.

"Stinger, the team may require backup. They're three clicks north of your current positions just off the highway. If you drop Rafael in the exit ramp, I can bridge him back to base from there." Shockwave said.

"( **I'm sorry Raf, but the team needs me.** )" Stinger apologized.

"It's okay, Sting. We will go race in another time." Raf promised.

But they didn't realize that near to them Optimus Prime was driving in their same direction, until it was too late.

"Well, well. A foolish scout astray from the ranks." Optimus said before a turret came out on the truck's top and fired at Stinger.

Raf saw Optimus firing at them. Stinger tried to avoid the shots, but one hit him, making him to swerve out of control. When he saw Optimus driving away from them he believed they were safe.

"( **That was close. Are you okay Raf?** )" Stinger asked, only to see Raf's hand fall to the floor.

When the Decepticons finished with all the Autobots, Optimus arrived.

"Megatron." Optimus greeted.

"Optimus, do you not see the folly in trying to force a prophecy to fruition?" Megatron asked.

"Why leave matters to fate, if one can forge one's own destiny. Ah, speaking of fate…" Optimus trailed off.

Everyone turned to see what Optimus was referring to and looked in horror. Stinger was walking towards them, carrying a barely breathing Raf. He looked them, with his optics begging for help since he didn't know what to do.

"Raf!" Starscream cried.

"He's breathing, barely." Airachnid said as she gently took him into her arms.

"Ah, it would seem I swatted a scout and squashed a bug." Optimus said with an evil smile.

Stinger shook in anger as he activated his blasters and aimed them at Optimus.

"Sting, no!" Breakdown yelled as he and Soundwave grabbed him by his shoulders.

"( **You're going to regret that, Prime.** )" Stinger said in menace.

Megatron looked at Optimus, who challenged him by his look to try to stop him by taking the power source, but he knew Raf wellbeing was more important in that moment.

"Shockwave, bridge us back, now!" Megatron ordered.

"Must have a Decepticon down." Shockwave muttered before he pulled the lever.

Jack and Miko looked each other worried as the ground bridge opened.

"Airachnid, Soundwave, attend to Rafael and Stinger." Megatron ordered.

The three Decepticons went through the portal while Megatron, Starscream and Breakdown stayed in the area. In that moment, the Ark arrived and lowered to the ground. Optimus looked back to see the others gone. Assuming they all went through the ground bridge, Optimus let a large tub take him back to the Ark with the ample power source. Meanwhile, everyone in base watched in shock as Soundwave, Stinger and Airachnid came in with a weak Raf in Airachnid's arms.

"Raf?!" Jack questioned in shock.

"No!" Miko cried.

"What happened?" Shockwave demanded.

"Prime." Airachnid answered harshly.

"Quickly, into my laboratory!" Knock Out ordered.

As the Ark flew into the air, Megatron, Starscream and Breakdown held on tightly to one of the wings as they climbed aboard. Inside base, Raf was on a medical bed, with everyone trying to help him.

"Raf isn't responding. We must run diagnostics of his assembly hum, vital statistics! Ugh, scrap! My tools and medical skills are more wrong than my paintjob!" Knock Out yelled in frustration as he threw the tools across the room.

"Knock Out! Calm down. Going into panic is not going to help Rafael to heal. You must focus. Soundwave, start to scanning Rafael to know his status." Shockwave said.

"Affirmative." Soundwave nodded starting to scanning Raf.

"( **This is so bad.** )" Stinger said with his head down.

"We need to call my mom." Jack said as he pulled out his phone.

"Your mother may be a nurse, but does she know anything about the effects of energon on a human body?" Knock Out asked.

"Did you know anything about the human body?!" Jack retorted him. "Mom, it's urgent."

"The weak will perish." Shockwave recited before looking down at Raf. "Be strong, Rafael."

At the same time, while the moon and the sun where began to align in front of Earth, the Ark was going to where the Autobots were constructing their space bridge.

"The power source will be rigged in no time, Optimus Prime. We are nearly in the construction site." Bumblebee reported.

"Nearly isn't good enough! The spheres are aligning! I must not miss my moment to-!" Optimus yelled before gasping as he saw another vision: he saw a strange cybertronian with purple eyes, and a volcano turning into purple.

"Optimus, are you alright, dear?" Elita One asked.

"Yet again, it is as if I can hear Unicron's thoughts!" Optimus proclaimed with his eyes turned purple.

"Unicron? The chaos bringer?" Arcee asked in slight surprise.

"They say dark energon is his blood. Whatever." Cliffjumper said.

"Complete the space bridge. There is something I must attend to." Optimus declared as he walked away.

"Does he seem to be losing it?" Smokescreen asked to the others.

"A bit." Wheeljack said.

"No, Optimus has managed to control dark energon's evil influence before this. He must have is own reasons to do what he is going to do." Elita proclaimed.

Inside the Decepticon base, June's car came through the ground bridge.

"Mom! Thank-!" Jack began.

"Grab my bag." June ordered as she ran over to Raf while Soundwave finished his scanning.

"Measuring the extent of the absorption should help determine the proper course of treatment." Shockwave said.

"If I don't get this boy stabilized now, he will not leave this table alive! Do you understand me?" June yelled, causing Shockwave and Knock Out to look her with surprise.

"( **Curse you, Prime!** )" Stinger bleeped in anger punching the wall, shocking everyone. Then Airachnid grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him against the wall.

"Sting, listen. You think I don't know how it feels to watch a partner…harmed? Revenge won't help Raf right now. You need to keep your emotions in check." Airachnid told him.

Stinger looked over at Raf before he clutched his head. "( **Scrap.** )"

Inside the Ark, Autobot troopers were guarding the ample power source. Then one of them heard a clanging noise, so he went to investigate. But when he saw nothing he was slaughtered by Starscream's claws. When he began to shot at the other Autobots, Breakdown came down and hit another with his hammer. Other was getting ready to fire, but Megatron jumped from above and stabbed him with his sword before killing the last one with his fusion cannon.

"Shockwave, how is Rafael?" Megatron asked through the com-link.

"It is too soon to know." Shockwave answered sadly.

"He is in good hands." Megatron reassured.

"Not ours, my liege. Curse the cybertronian pride! We've accepted these humans into our lives, yet I bothered to learn so little of their science or medicine!" Knock Out said.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Soundwave said, trying to cheer up.

"Soundwave is right, Knock Out. Pull yourselves together, old friends. Rafael needs you." Megatron reminded them.

"And we have grown to need him." Shockwave confessed.

"Lock onto my coordinates and activate the ground bridge." Megatron requested while Breakdown carried the ample power source on his back with Starscream helping him.

"Ready, commander." Breakdown grunted before the ground bridge opened up next to them.

"Breakdown, Starscream, return to base. There is something I must do." Megatron told them.

"Wait, really?" Breakdown asked.

"Why, my liege?" Starscream demanded.

"I have been foolish to not see what history has proven over and over again: that Autobots and Decepticons will never mend their ways. If there can be no diplomatic solution to this perpetual conflict, then I must not allow more darkness to fall upon this or any planet. Optimus Prime must be destroyed." Megatron declared.

"Good luck lord Megatron. Till all are one." Starscream said before he and Breakdown went through the ground bridge.

The moon and the sun were almost aligned. Meanwhile, some Autobot troopers were doing their duty when they saw Megatron walking towards them.

"I have come for Optimus Prime and him alone. Stand down and be spared." Megatron told them.

But the Autobots decided to shot at him, but they didn't manage to stop Megatron as he continued walking in the Ark. At the same time, Optimus drove until he reached to a volcano erupting.

"The flaming mountain in my visions." Optimus realized as he transformed. "As if it summoned me here, guided me! This is where I'm to position my space bridge! The place from which I am to harvest dark energon!"

"Optimus! I am here, on your ship! Come and face me!" Megatron yelled through a com-link of a dead Autobot, something that Optimus heard.

"The place at which I am to defeat the leader of the Decepticons." Optimus declared. "Hear this! Any Autobot who lays a hand on Megatron will answer to me! Elita, lock onto my coordinates and lead my opponent to his destiny." Optimus said through the com-link to all the Autobots when Megatron reached to the main bridge. Elita looked and nodded to Megatron, and he did it too.

Meanwhile in the base, the situation wasn't improved.

"Jack, help me get Raf into the car. He's going to the emergency room." June declared.

"Nurse Darby, your doctors won't be able to comprehend what's affecting him. Not without a decade of study." Knock Out protested.

"I don't have time to argue." June retorted.

"The effects of an energon blast on a Decepticon can be devastating enough! But this is a human!" Knock Out retorted as he and Shockwave looked at the scans on the computer from Soundwave scanning.

"I'm not getting any readings!" Soundwave said looking the results.

Then Shockwave understood. "How could I have not seen this? Rafael has been infected with dark energon!"

Everyone looked up at Shockwave in shock. On the volcano, Optimus waited to Megatron.

"Optimus, today you'll answer for your crimes against Cybertron and humanity." Megatron declared as he walked out of the ground bridge portal. "One shall stand."

"And one shall fall. You, Megatron!" Optimus finished.

They both let out battle cries as they charged, getting ready to punch each other. Meanwhile at the base, Soundwave was scanning Raf again.

"If dark energon is devouring Rafael from the inside out, we must expel it, and fast. By the only possible way I know. We need energon!" Starscream proclaimed as he grabbed an empty vial.

"Wait. You said energon was devastating to humans!" June retorted.

"Under normal circumstances, quiet. But it is logical to think of relying upon the dark matter currently invading Rafael's body to meet it head on." Shockwave clarified.

"It would act like an antidote." Soundwave added.

"( **Take my energon.** )" Stinger offered.

Megatron and Optimus ended up punching each other in the face, skidding back to a stop. Optimus aimed his blaster at Megatron, only for him to knock it out of the way. They continue this process until Megatron tried to kick Optimus, only for him to bend back and dodge it. Then Megatron tried to aim his cannon at him, but Optimus knocked it out of the way. Megatron tried again, but this time both weapons were facing either other. They fired anyway, the force sending them backwards across the battlefield. Optimus regained his composure and fired at Megatron, only for him to pulled out his sword and deflect all the shots. As Megatron charged towards him, Optimus transformed his hand into a blade and they both collided.

"Your defeat here was foreseen by the ancients. What was it they wrote? The weak shall perish?" Optimus recalled.

"Do not believe everything you read." Megatron growled before their swords continued to clash.

Raf's condition was going worse while Knock Out drew energon from Stinger's arm.

"I need him over here! Now!" Knock Out yelled as he pointed to the medical chamber.

June and Jack pushed the bed into the medical chamber before Soundwave began to press some buttons.

"For Primus shake, make it work!" Knock Out begged as he pulled a lever to activate the chamber.

When the energon began to disappear from the vial, the chamber began to glow with a bright light making everyone cover their eyes. Once the light died down, Jack, Miko, June and Stinger ran inside. The silence was broken as Raf groaned as slowly opened his eyes.

"Pulse rate is stabilizing." June informed with a smile on her face.

"Sting?" Raf groaned.

"( **You're okay.** )" Stinger said.

Miko sighed with relief as she hugged Raf while Jack stayed with June smiling at Knock Out, who was relieved.

"Lord Megatron, we did it." Starscream proclaimed.

Megatron heard that, which gave him strength to face Optimus while their swords continued to clash. When Optimus kicked him back, Megatron retracted his sword and charged at Prime in his alt mode. Optimus fired at him, but Megatron kept dodging it. He passed over a small ramp and slammed into Prime. Next he shot his fusion cannon of his vehicle form, knocking Optimus over a cliff. Optimus tried to recover, but Megatron jumped into the air and kicked Optimus deeper into the ground. Then he pushed his feet harder against Optimus face, but he grabbed him and threw him off of him.

"You would do well to remember that I honed my skills in the pits of Kaon. As champion!" Megatron said charging at Optimus.

As Optimus got up, Megatron began to constantly punch him in the face, leaking energon with each hit and skidding back. Optimus tried to regain his composure, but Megatron let out a battle cry and punched him back to the ground. He groaned as Megatron walked towards him, activating him blade.

"My destiny. This isn't how it's supposed to end." Optimus gasped as Megatron stepped on his chest, forcing him to the ground.

"On the contrary, Optimus. I could not have allowed this to end otherwise." Megatron said as he raised his blade high in the air as lighting flashed around both of them.

Optimus widened his eyes in shock and fear, not believing that this was his end. But then, the volcano erupted with strange purple lava as Megatron brought his blade down. The sound of metal clashed with each other and Megatron widened his eyes in shock. Optimus clasped the blade in between his servos. The two stood frozen for a moment before Optimus opened his optics, revealing a glowing purple.

Meanwhile in base…

"Breakdown, Starscream, you let Megatron face Prime alone?" Shockwave demanded in frustration.

"We didn't have a choice." Breakdown retorted.

"Lord Megatron knows how to face Optimus." Starscream added.

"It could be a trap! We need to get a fix on his location!" Soundwave declared.

Optimus roared as he got up from the ground and pushed the blade back. Megatron grunted in pain as he tried to use his strength to keep his arm stable.

"How was it that you put it, Megatron? I couldn't have allowed this to end otherwise?" Optimus recalled as he stabbed his sword in Megatron's shoulder before retracted it.

Next he began punching Megatron constantly, he tried to land blows, but Optimus keep attacking him. In the end, Optimus sent an uppercut towards him, causing him to fly into the air and land on the ground on his back. While Optimus came walking towards him dangerously with his eyes flickering with a glowing purple, Megatron saw that the moon was blocking the sun: a solar eclipse. Megatron tried to get up, but this time Optimus pinned him to the ground with his foot. Fortunately, his allies located him.

"I locked onto Megatron's signal." Soundwave informed.

"Wait, how is this possible?" Shockwave said as he widened his eye.

"What? What is it?" Airachnid asked.

"This is not good." Shockwave said showing the data to Starscream.

"We need to get Megatron out of there, now!" Starscream shouted.

Then the volcano erupted, throwing pieces of the purple substance as Optimus laughed manically.

"Well, well, it seems the blood of Unicron I've been seeking is not out there. But rather right here!"

"Dark energon, erupting from the Earth?" Megatron asked himself in disbelief.

Optimus transformed his hand into a sword and raised it high in the air, ready to finish his enemy.

To be continued…


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four- Darkness Rising**

Dark energon ashes fell from the dark sky while Megatron was still on the ground, with Optimus Prime over him.

"Why is the blood of Unicron erupting from beneath the Earth?" Megatron asked himself as he looked up at the sky.

"A question, Megatron, that you shall take to your grave." Optimus declared, snapping Megatron out of his thoughts.

Megatron tried to get up, but it was no use. Optimus lowered his blade, but then he saw a ground bridge appear in from of them. Then Laserbeak came through and started firing at Optimus, but that was a distraction because Breakdown emerged and swung his hammer at him, pushing him back. Breakdown continued to hit him while Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave came too.

"By the Allspark." Starscream said in shock seeing dark energon coming from the volcano.

"Quickly, we must pull him through!" Shockwave told Starscream before he and Soundwave went to help Megatron up.

Optimus punched Breakdown in the face causing him to skid back.

"Breakdown! Now, now, now!" Starscream yelled to him as he and the other Decepticons were going through the ground bridge with Megatron.

Breakdown transformed into his alt mode and drove towards the ground bridge alongside Laserbeak with Optimus chasing after him with his sword flaming in purple. Breakdown transformed and jumped through the ground bridge with the rest. Optimus tried to attack them, but the portal closed and his sword hit the ground. Optimus growled as he changed his blade into his hand, he wiped some of the dark energon off of his face before he smiled darkly.

"Elita, come to see this." He said through his com-link.

Another ground bridge portal opened and Elita One came through it.

"Ah, Optimus!" She said worried as she ran to her sparkmate. "Are you okay? You're hurt."

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Thanks to the blood of Unicron I managed to make Megatron run like a scraplet. Besides, I managed to find what I was looking." Optimus said as he showed Elita the volcano erupting.

"Is that…?" She began.

"Dark energon, a lot of it." He finished.

"It seems that now we rule the tide of this war." She said sinisterly as she embraced Optimus.

"This is merely the beginning! We now possess enough dark energon to reanimate Unicron himself! Yes!" Optimus cheered before his laugh echoed through the area.

Inside the Decepticon base, Stinger opened the ground bridge as Shockwave and Soundwave came walking in with a wounded Megatron.

"Easy, Megatron." Soundwave said carrying him.

"From the looks of things, you've been exposed to a massive amount of dark energon." Knock Out told him as he sit on the medical berth.

"I am not the only one." Megatron said looking at Raf with a smile.

"Hey." Raf greeted.

"He's lucky to be alive". June said, causing Megatron to look away in shame and sadness.

"Prime found more of the dark stuff?" Jack asked as he and Miko walked down the stairs.

"A volcano full." Starscream answered.

"The question is how?" Breakdown answered.

"No. The question is what? As in what in the world is the blood of Unicron doing here on Earth?" Shockwave corrected.

"The Bots killed a unicorn?" Miko asked, so the Decepticons gave her a look of confusion. "White horse with a horn on its head. Prances around all sparkly?"

"Unicron. An ancient evil whose fossilized blood comprises the matter which we call dark energon. As legend would have it." Starscream corrected.

"So you're saying this Unicron is some kind of boogeyman?" June asked.

"Boogeyman?" Starscream asked in confusion.

"Make believe creepy guy who hides in your closet." Miko explained.

"No, Nurse Darby. Unicron is very real. Was…that is… While I do believe he once existed, I just don't subscribe to the theory that his primordial life force is the substance which harmed Raf." Shockwave explained.

"I've heard enough." June declared before she walked over to the bed Raf was on. "Jack, please, help me get Raf into the car."

"( **Wait, why?** )" Stinger asked.

"Mom, I thought he was doing better." Jack said in surprise.

"Raf needs to be examined by real doctors. And Raf's family needs to know what's happened, his real family!" June retorted.

"Mom, Raf's family can't protect him, not like they can." Jack reasoned.

"June." Megatron began as he slowly got up. "It deeply grieves me that I have failed, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm comes to our human friends or any human ever again."

Suddenly she stopped.

"Megatron, they are children, they do not belong in your world. They should be worrying about grades! Prom dates! Pimples! Not their own survival!" June said.

"Mom, dark energon is pouring out of the Earth. It doesn't do that. This could be about everyone's survival, not just ours." Jack reasoned.

"You are coming with me, all three of you! And they will not be coming back!" June declared.

"I understand." Megatron said.

"What?! Are you serious?!" Knock Out said in disbelief.

"That's it? After all we've been through together, see ya? What about our freedom to choose?" Miko asked.

"That may fly on their planet, but not here on Earth." June retorted as she helped Raf in the car. "Get in!"

Miko scoffed. "Do you really expect me to ride in a non-transforming vehicle?"

"Miko, I'm serious." June warned.

"You're not my mother." Miko retorted.

"Miko." Breakdown began.

"And neither are you!" Miko yelled, causing Breakdown to look at her in shock.

"Well I am yours. Let's go, Jack." June said.

Jack looked away with slight hesitation as he heard Airachnid walking up to him, so he looked up at her.

"She's your mom." Airachnid said, but with a little of sadness.

Jack slightly grimaced before he looked at his mom.

"I'm staying. I'm sorry." Jack declared.

June didn't say anything as she walked towards the car. Stinger looked at Raf with sadness, and Raf looked back at him as June shut the door.

"Soundwave, activate the ground bridge." Megatron instructed.

"No thank you!" June said before she drove out of the base.

Raf looked back at Stinger as faded away from his sights. Raf then sat back down in his seat as he wiped away the tears from his eyes.

"Megatron, do you copy?" Silas asked through the com-link.

"I hear you, agent Silas." Megatron answered.

"Been watching the news? Mother nature's got a twitch in her britches." Silas informed.

"We know about the volcano." Starscream told him.

"And the quakes?" Silas asked. "Seven tremblers of the same magnitude at the exact same time of the volcano eruption. All over the globe on different tectonic plates. In theory, unrelated. If they hadn't happened…"

"At the exact same time." Knock Out finished.

"Check it out, more good news." Miko remarked as she turned on the TV.

"Freak storms unlike any of the region has seen. Tsunamis threaten the Canadian coast while lighting storms pummel the Gobi Desert. Meanwhile, electromagnetic anomalies plague urban power grids. These abnormal global phenomenon are leaving most to wonder: why now and what next." The TV narrator said.

"Don't tell me the Bots have built a weather machine." Silas said.

"One that powerful, highly unlikely." Shockwave said.

"Besides, climatic phenomenons are not related with geological phenomenons, like earthquakes or volcanos." Starscream added.

"I do not believe the appearance of dark energon at this point in time to be coincidental." Megatron said.

"But if those disasters are happening worldwide, maybe it would happen here too, in Jasper." Knock Out deduced.

"So you're telling that…" Airachnid began.

"June and Raf are in danger!" Knock Out said alarmed and scaring everyone.

"( **I'm going to take them back!** )" Stinger said running to the base's exit.

June drove through the desert while the sky was covered by dark clouds.

"One one hundred, two one hundred." Raf muttered.

"You okay back there, Raf?" June asked as she moved the side-view mirror.

"I saw lighting. I'm counting until the thunder…" He said until the thunder was heard through the clouds.

June laughed nervously. "Looks like a storm. My garden will love it."

But then, the lighting began to run through the clouds and almost hit June's car. She drove to get out of the way, but she ended it up hitting an electrical post.

"Raf, are you okay?" June asked, so he nodded. Then they two heard a strong wind coming from outside. "What's that?"

They both looked over to see a tornado coming their way.

"No!" June panicked as she tried to start the car, but it wouldn't budge. "Come on, come on, come on!"

As the tornado came closer, the car slowly lifted up from the ground. But then Stinger came driving to them. Before they were sucked by the tornado, Stinger transformed and grabbed the car. But the tornado was pulling it, so Stinger had to grab another electrical post to not be dragged.

"( **Climb into my hand, hurry!** )" Stinger told them.

"Sting wants us to climb into his hand!" Raf translated.

As they got out of the car, the post flew out of Stinger's hand into the air, so Stinger used both hands to grab onto the car. Raf managed to climb into Stinger's hand, but the car hood broke causing June to fly into the air. Raf gasped, but smiled to see her on Knock Out's hands.

"Need a hand?" Knock Out asked.

Both Decepticons transformed and drove back to the base, with Raf and June inside Stinger.

"Thank you. Both of you." June said.

"That wasn't big deal, it's what we do." Knock Out said.

"( **You're welcome.** )" Stinger said.

"He says you're welcome." Raf translated.

Meanwhile, the Autobots were near the volcano, mining dark energon crystals and taken them into the warship.

"Rivers of your very life blood, rising from the depths to become one with me." Optimus said inside the Ark's bridge.

Then Optimus slightly yelled in pain as he saw another vision: the volcano erupted once again, forming cracks in the Earth. The cracks continued to form until it consumed the planet, and in the end the Earth blew up. At the Decepticon base, everyone saw Knock Out and Stinger driving back into base, with Raf and June.

"Ah, we're back." Raf remarked awkwardly getting out of Stinger.

"And we are glad." Soundwave said in relief.

"Mom, are you alright?" Jack asked with worry as he walked up to her.

"I will be." She answered. "Jack…"

"Mom, I'm…"

"I know, me too." June smiled before she hugged her son. "But you're grounded til you're thirty." She said, making him slightly grumbled. "Twenty-five."

"World leaders are classifying these bizarre weather patterns as a global emergency." The TV voice said.

"Global?" June asked in shock.

"And scientists believe the phenomenon is somehow related to the current planetary alignment." The TV said.

In that moment, agent Silas came from the elevator.

"What did you learn, Megatron? And better be clear and don't come with hard explications or-…!" Silas said until he saw that June was there too. "Ms Darby. What a nice surprise."

"Special agent Silas." June greeted.

"We have learned this. As with the so-called magma from the volcano, these earthquakes originated from far below the Earth's crust, from the very center of the Earth's core in fact." Soundwave explained.

"Quakes don't start there, right?" Silas asked.

"Tiny tremors rising and falling in a consistent pattern, almost like…" Shockwave trailed off before he thought about something seeing the readings. "By the Allspark! If I convert these data points to audio files."

"What? What is it?" Silas demanded.

"Listen." Shockwave simply said.

Everyone waited while the data was transferred, then they heard some kind of constant thumping noise. No one knew what was that sound, but Megatron's face showed otherwise. And they were not the only ones to catch that, because aboard the Ark Blaster was playing the same recordings.

"Stop Blaster! Turn it off." Optimus ordered as he clutched his head.

"Optimus! What is happening? Tell me!" Elita said with worry.

"I can still hear it pounding in my brain." Optimus answered.

At base…

"A cybertronian heartbeat?" Jack said, reaching a conclusion.

"How is that possible?" June retorted. "A heart pumps blood. There's nothing inside the earth to pump except…"

"The blood of Unicron." Raf reminded.

Deep inside the volcano, while dark energon continued to our out, two purple eyes opened, revealing to be the source of all the dark stuff: Unicron, the chaos bringer.

" **I awaken.** " Unicron said.

Now everyone knew what was going on.

"Okay, hold on. You mean something is living down there? Inside our planet?" Miko asked on Breakdown's shoulders.

"I fear that the Earth's very core is not comprised of magma, as your scientists suggested, but of dark energon." Megatron proclaimed.

"And if we're hearing his spark, then Unicron is the raising darkness that the prophecy foretold." Starscream concluded.

"So how do we stop this thing from rising?" Silas asked.

"That I'm afraid was not foretold." Megatron answered.

"How could something be in our Earth's core and be alive?" June asked.

"Such a thing is not unprecedented." Megatron began. "Before the beginning, there was Primus and there was Unicron. One the incarnation of creation, the other of destruction. For eons, Primus and Unicron battled. The balance of power shifted between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating the Thirteen, the original Primes, the true ones before their lineage started to rot and turned into evil, was Primus finally able to defeat Unicron and cast him out. Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through the Well of all Sparks, while Unicron was never to be heard from again…until now." Megatron finished.

"Maybe we can find the hole this uber Bot left when he dug himself all the way down there and fill it with explosives." Silas suggested.

"Agent Silas, I do not believe that Earth became Unicron's home, but rather that with time and gravitational force, debris collected around the slumbering titan." Megatron explained.

"Forming your Earth itself." Starscream finished.

"And he's only awakening now due to the magnetic pull created by the planetary alignment." Airachnid realized.

"Okay, what happens now when Unicron wakes up from his billion year nap?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, does he stretch and KA-POW! Earth poofs to dust?" Miko asked.

Megatron looked away.

"You don't know, do you?" June assumed.

"My guess is that Unicron has consented physical form as we know it. Nonetheless, we must find a way to unsure that this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends upon it." Megatron concluded.

Inside the Ark, Optimus seemed to be better from his headache.

"Lord Optimus Prime, our cargo hold is nearly full with the dark substance." Ratchet informed.

"In that case, I recommend a retreat. The troops are growing weak from its effects." Elita suggested.

"And yet I grow stronger." Optimus said to himself before he turned to Elita. "My dear, I'm counting on you to get everything under control until my return."

"Your return from where, master?" Bee asked.

"From my audience with Unicron." Optimus answered as he walked away.

The Ark left the area while Optimus landed into the ground. Then he transformed and drove until he reached the top of the volcano, near to the smoke.

"I feel your presence. Share your very spark. I call on you as my lord and master, oh mighty Unicron!" Optimus called out.

Then more smoke rose as lighting was heard and Optimus saw a face with purple eyes inside the smoke cloud.

" **Who speak to me?** " Unicron demanded.

"Your servant, most humble." Optimus answered as he kneeled down. "Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and your very herald. The one who wielded the dark energon which binds us. To awaken you once again. The prophecy has been fulfilled! It is only the beginning of what we shall accomplish together. For you shall rule this planet and those who walked upon it through me."

" **Prideful fool! How dare you think yourself capable of summoning my life force? I rise because I have deemed it my time!** " Unicron yelled at Optimus.

"Master, I did not mean to overstep." Optimus apologized.

" **Silence worm! I have no need of your lowly assistance. Besides, if you were a true Prime we wouldn't have this conversation, but I'm not feeling the power of Primus inside of you.** " Unicron said.

"Please, my lord." Optimus pleaded as he got on his knees once again. "I exist only to serve you."

" **What is this I sense? The true taint of Primus, here?** " Unicron asked.

"That may be Megatron. The leader of the Decepticons, our sworn enemy." Optimus explained as he got up.

" **You profess loyalty to me, yet allow a follower of Primus to live?!** " Unicron asked angry.

"I will destroy him for you! His screams will be heard…!" Optimus declared.

" **I grow weary of your prattle. Surely, if you had the power to destroy this true herald of Primus, you would have done so already. I will deal with him myself.** " Unicron said before he disappeared.

The smoke disappeared, leaving Optimus very annoyed. Meanwhile, Megatron was inside a canyon, scanning the area.

"Shockwave, this epicenter is consistent with the findings of the others. It's terrain is rich and ore." Megatron informed through the com-link.

"So what does that tell us?" Silas asked.

"It follows that the natural metals in your Earth would be extensions of Unicron. His limbs, if you will." Shockwave explained.

"So he did have his morning stretch, which is why these quakes happened." June said.

Suddenly the computer made some noise.

"Lord Megatron, we're detecting a swell in Unicron's spark activity." Starscream warned through the com-link.

"Rest assured, Starscream. I will proceed with vigilance." Megatron said.

He suddenly heard crumbling noises and turned around to see Unicron's face form in the rocks.

" **Do you know me, follower of Primus?** " The face asked.

"Unicron: the chaos bringer." Megatron answered.

" **Good.** " Unicron smirked as more rocks began to fall, and an entire body of himself came out from the wall. " **Now know me as Unicron, your destroyer!** "

His appearance was like the Devil: full with marks, extensions like demonic wings in his back and two large horns on his head, with a face like an old person, but sinister. His arms finished in two sharp appendices, which he began to attack. Megatron blocked him with his sword and backed away as Unicron continued to attack. Unicron jumped into the air, but Megatron jumped backwards before the chaos bringer had a chance to strike him.

Then Megatron retracted his sword and put his arms out. "I humbly requested your ear, Lord Unicron."

That made Unicron stop attacking and looked at Megatron with curiosity. " **And what would a follower of Primus be so compelled to say to me?** "

"I make this appeal not for myself, but for this planet which you constitute, and the beings who inhabit it. Humankind relies upon you. For life, sustenance, your resurrection will only result in the destruction of a species which evolved from the seeds of your very greatness." Megatron explained.

" **So this humankind of whom you speak, you consider them my progeny?** " Unicron asked.

"Indeed." Megatron answered.

" **Parasites! They too shall know my wrathful hand, once I am finished with you.** " Unicron said as he changed his weapons into hands and send lighting to Megatron, electrocuting him and sending him flying backwards. As Megatron tried to get up, Unicron walked up to him. " **The line of Primes has lost its way during my absence, which is good for me. But you, Megatron, are nothing more than a reflection of them, a spark of hope, and thus you shall fall.** " Unicron said charging his hands with dark energon lighting again.

"That outcome is inevitable, but not on this day!" Megatron declared as he fired his fusion cannon at him.

The shots went straight through Unicron as he fell on the floor. Megatron watched as the form of Unicron's body turned into rocks. Then he heard another crumbling noise and looked around to see rock manifestations of Unicron pop up from the ground and out of the wall, forming in different areas of the canyon.

" **Yes, disciple of Primus, on this very day, for Unicron maybe one, but we all are Unicron!** " They all declared.

To be continued…


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five- The Chaos Bringer**

Megatron was inside a canyon surrounded by multiple rock copies of Unicron.

"Lord Megatron, have you uncovered any further signs of Unicron's emergence?" Shockwave asked through the com-link.

" **Unicron is power incarnate. And you, the legacy of the true Primes, shall perish.** " All the copies of Unicron said at the same time, which was heard in the com-link.

"I take that as a yes. We are on our way." Starscream declared as they were going to the ground bridge portal.

"Negative. Unicron cannot be defeated by sheer force. He wants me, Starscream." Megatron said activating his weapons. "This fight must be mine alone."

The clones jumped from the high cliffs to attack, but Megatron shot them before they even hit the ground. One came up from behind and attacks him, but Megatron blocked him and shot it. Another one grabbed Megatron from behind, but he flipped it over. Megatron continued firing as he jumped off from one cliff and onto the other. One of the clones came up from the ground, but Megatron stabbed it with his sword before it had time to attack. Megatron continued jumping from cliff to cliff, shooting or stabbing the Unicron clones. He kept firing at a boulder, causing it to fall and kill two clones. One of the clones tackled him off of a cliff, but Megatron flipped him over and the clone crashed into the ground, before Megatron flipped back and hit a wall. Then he fired at one of the clones that were charging at him. More clones came to attack him, but Megatron shot at them, slice them or threw them. As more clones came to attack him, two clones jumped from higher ground and tackled him to the ground. They grabbed him by the arms as Megatron tried to break free, but it was no use. One clone was getting ready to kill him, but then a shot hit it in the chest. Megatron looked over to see a ground bridge open and his team coming out of it. Starscream transformed into his alt mode, and then he flew and returned to his robot form before kick one clone. The other Decepticons helped free Megatron destroying the remaining clones and the ones coming at them. Before two managed to hurt Airachnid and Stinger, Megatron shot one and stabbed the other.

"Starscream, did you not relay my command? Return to base." Megatron ordered.

" **Reinforcements will not prevent your destruction, warrior of Primus.** " Unicron said.

"Megatron, you're Unicron's target. Maybe you should consider returning to base." Airachnid retorted.

"These manifestations of Unicron can locate me anywhere on Earth. Even our base's shielding will only cloak my position for so long. I will not put others at risk." Megatron explained.

"Then fall back and let us take the lead. Just this once." Breakdown insisted.

"Please, listen to reason. If you don't survive, Megatron, I fear neither will this planet." Shockwave proclaimed through the com-link.

"Very well." Megatron gave in.

"Let's move!" Starscream said as he charged into battle.

The team continued shooting at the clones as they made their way through the canyon. Airachnid, Starscream and Stinger jumped to the next terrain, but a clone appeared from the ground. Megatron transformed into his alt mode and flew straight through it. As they made it to the top of the canyon, the Decepticons transformed into their alt modes and sped off, evading or crushing the clones on their way. A mountain suddenly began crumbling as a giant face appeared. The Decepticons transformed and looked up to see a Unicron clone of the size of a mountain stand high and tall.

"( **Is that the real Unicron?** )" Stinger asked.

"No, not Unicron himself, but another of his manifestations." Megatron answered.

"If we can't beat Unicron and if we can't outrun him, what exactly are we supposed to do?" Knock Out asked.

"All we can do: neutralize his vessels as they appear, until we find a way to destroy him, without destroying the very Earth upon which we walk." Megatron answered.

Megatron began to fire as Breakdown, Knock Out and Stinger transformed and drove forward. They stopped and began to fire at Unicron from behind, but Unicron simply used his arm to knock them both away. Unicron felt shots being fired at him and turned around to see Airachnid shooting webs and him and Starscream launching missiles. They transformed to flew and evade him, but Unicron knocked them away, so they transformed into their bipedal form as they skidded across the floor. Megatron continued firing at him before he transformed and flew, firing from different sides.

" **Fool!** " Unicron said as he moved his arm, causing rocks to fly out of the ground.

Megatron tried to dodge them, but they all pinned him to the floor. Breakdown, Knock Out and Stinger got up and continued firing at him, but Unicron didn't pay attention as he raised his foot.

" **I am this world's past and its future. And as of this moment…** "

"No!" Starscream screamed.

" **All Primes are simply past.** "

Before Unicron could crush Megatron, some blasters hit Unicron from behind in the face. The clone then fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces. The Decepticons looked at the rubble before looking to each other.

"( **Who made that wonderful shot?** )" Stinger asked.

"Wasn't me." Airachnid said.

"Me neither." Breakdown said.

"I never was good at shooting." Knock Out added.

"Shockwave?" Starscream asked through the com-link.

"What is it? What happened?" Shockwave demanded through his com-link.

"I happened." A voice declared.

Everyone looked up to see Optimus Prime standing on top of the pile of rubble. Then he jumped and landed in front of them.

"Optimus Prime?" Breakdown said in disbelief.

"King Bot's there too?" Miko asked.

"He has aligned himself with Unicron." Soundwave answered with disgust.

"Don't be so sure. Prime just saved Megatron's tailpipe." Airachnid said, surprising everyone.

Megatron pushed rocks out of his way as Optimus walked up to him. Optimus aimed his blaster at him, causing everyone to aim their weapon to him. But then, Optimus stopped charging his blaster, changed it into his hand and offered it to Megatron. Megatron was slightly hesitant before he took his hand and Optimus pulled him out of the rubble.

"It is rather ironic, considering our last encounter. If memory serves, you were desperately attempting to extinguish my spark." Optimus recalled.

"That option remains very much in play." Megatron threaten.

"I would expect nothing less, however I have a proposal. Join me in defeating our share enemy: Unicron, the chaos bringer." Optimus said.

"Ha, absurd! Unicron is evil incarnate. If Optimus was to take anyone's side, why would it be ours?" Starscream demanded.

"Because after Unicron finished with me, Optimus will be the next one wanted by him. Besides, his pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule this planet." Megatron answered.

"You know me all too well, Megatron." Optimus smirked.

"You lead an army of Bots. Why come to us?" Knock Out asked.

"Because this particular endeavor requires something beyond the realm of my command, something that I believe I had, but Unicron revealed that is was not with me. The true power of a Prime." Optimus gesture his arm to Megatron.

"Then I guess we don't need you." Breakdown said.

"On the contrary. Megatron may be the only one who can defeat Unicron, but I remain the only one who can guide you to him. Unicron's lifeblood runs through me, only I can hear his thoughts, anticipate his movements. Megatron, our past alliances, Autobot, Decepticon, no longer matter. Not while Unicron lives." Optimus explained.

On base, Shockwave slammed his fist on the computers in anger. "The past always matters!"

"A truce between Autobot and Decepticon. How long do you expect us to believe that will last?" Megatron asked.

"Only as long as it is mutual beneficial." Optimus answered.

"And when our proposed shared mission is complete?" Megatron asked again.

"I will conquer this Earth. My way." Optimus proclaimed.

"Brutal honesty from an Autobot." Airachnid questioned in slight surprise.

"Aligning with the lesser of two evils is still siding with evil." Starscream retorted.

"Do you think you've witnessed the full power of Unicron? Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste. Unicron is yet to fully awaken. With each passing moment, the chaos bringer evolves. Mutating Earth from the inside out. What we've witness until now is but a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will wreak upon your world." Optimus explained, making everyone in base to remain quiet.

"Like the quest of power of your Prime predecessors destroyed Cybetron?" Knock Out retorted.

"Make no mistake! This time there will be a planet left for me to rule." Optimus declared.

"Even if we agree, Unicron's all the way down to the center of the Earth. How are we supposed to get there, drive?" Breakdown asked.

"There is only one way." Megatron said.

"Absolutely not!" Shockwave shouted, knowing Megatron's plan.

"Ground bridging into space or on a moving train is difficult enough. But plotting a blind jump inside of a sentient being? It's impossible." Soundwave explained.

"Besides, direct exposure to that much dark energon will debilitate you. You haven't built up immunity like Prime has." Shockwave added.

"Yet another strong argument for soliciting my guidance." Optimus remarked.

"You can provide Unicron's exact coordinates?" Megatron asked.

"If you transport us to this planet's core, I can lead you directly into Unicron's spark, the very heart of his darkness." Optimus declared.

"Lord Megatron, even if we survive the jump, how are we supposed to stop Unicron?" Starscream asked.

Megatron looked over at Optimus, who slightly nodded his head.

"With the Matrix of Leadership." Megatron answered, leaving everyone in shock.

"What is that?" Silas asked.

"A vessel of pure energy. The collective wisdom of the Primes." Shockwave answered.

"Do we have time for a scavenger hunt? I mean, where is Megatron supposed to find this matrix?" Jack asked.

"Megatron does not need to find it. Optimus carries it within him." Soundwave explained as he pointed to his chest.

"It was the combine power of the Primes that defeated Unicron so long ago. The very reason he now seeks to destroy you." Optimus said.

"Wait. If Optimus has the matrix within him and he's called Prime, might not he also use his power against Unicron?" Miko asked in confusion.

"It would not be the same, because Optimus is not its rightful owner. If Optimus used the matrix, its power would not affect Unicron the same way." Shockwave cleared.

"It would follow that unleashing the power of the matrix directly into Unicron's spark would return him to stasis." Megatron concluded.

"Hold on. If everything goes right, Unicron's gonna stay down there?" Miko asked.

"Yeah, can't we siphon him out somehow?" Jack asked.

"He's not in the Earth's core, Jack. He is the Earth's core." Raf explained.

"Rafael is correct. Tampering with your core could affect the magnetic pull; trigger the very cataclysmic event we are attempting to remediate. Tragically, Unicron is your planet very seed. Always has been and always must be." Shockwave said.

Suddenly, lots of rocks went to the same direction, where another giant clone of Unicron began to raise.

"We got another one!" Knock Out yelled.

"Soundwave, send the ground bridge." Megatron instructed.

As everyone covered their faces from the violent wind a ground bridge opened right behind them.

"Wait! We're opening a direct path into our base with Optimus standing right there?" Airachnid asked.

"And seriously, he's going to risk his own spark to save us?" Breakdown remarked.

That made Optimus laugh. "Hardly my nature." He looked up at the now standing Unicron. "Consider my offer, I shall keep it busy." He said before he transformed and drove to the clone.

While the Decepticons returned to base, Optimus began to climb to Unicron as he fired at him. At the same time, in the Ark, the Autobots began to get nervous.

"No word yet from Optimus Prime?" Ratchet asked to Blaster, but he didn't responded.

"Do you believe our leader has abandoned us, while this world erupts in chaos?" Bulkhead asked to everyone.

"I don't know, but I'm starting to worry about our leader safety." Bee said.

"Just in case, we should consider the possibility of a future, when Optimus Prime is no more with us." Smokescreen suggested.

"Well, he has a point. What do you think, commander?" Arcee asked to Elita One, but she didn't answer, but everyone could see worry in her eyes.

Back in the Decepticon base…

"I know that desperate times call for desperate measures, but bringing Optimus here?!" Starscream exclaimed.

"How can you even think about letting that monster near these children after what he did to Raf?" June demanded.

"He will be closely monitored, and only allowed to linger long enough to send us on our journey. Not one moment more." Megatron declared.

"What's going to stop the Bots from calling in an air strike if they know where you live?" Silas asked.

"By ground bridging Optimus here, he will be unable to get a fix on our coordinates." Soundwave explained.

"Megatron, what's gonna happen to you when all of the matrix's energy is released?" Jack asked.

"The power within the matrix has not previously been utilized in this particular manner." Megatron said.

"But you have an idea, don't you?" Jack asked.

Megatron paused for a moment.

"Decepticons, if humankind is to be saved, I have no choice but to proceed. But you do." Megatron declared.

"My liege, when I join your cause, I promised that I will follow you anywhere you go. And I have intention to make that true." Starscream confessed.

"Me too, lord Megatron." Soundwave proclaimed.

"Now we are three, but someone has to stay here and command the base in your absence." Shockwave said.

The rest of the Decepticons paused for a moment as they looked at their human friends.

"Well, I don't know about humankind, but I'm willing to do it, for Miko." Breakdown declared.

"For Jack." Airachnid said.

"( **For Raf.** )" Stinger said.

"For our three little friends." Knock Out said.

That made the children smile. Optimus continued to battle Unicron, but now he was facing three giant clones, however he was able to damage seriously the leg of one of them.

"Optimus, we are sending transport." Megatron informed through the com-link.

"You can always be relied upon to listen to reason, Megatron." Optimus remarked.

Optimus jumped high into the air before he transformed and punched one of the clones in the face, shattering the entire head. Optimus landed on the ground as the clone shattered into a million pieces and walked through a ground bridge portal directly to base before it closed.

"No fair! I've never seen him! Why do we have to hide?" Miko grunted as Starscream pushed her into the hall.

"Because I said so." Starscream answered before he walked away.

Starscream returned back with the others, who were looking at the ground bridge opened. Then Optimus appeared before them, walking toward them. All of them activated their weapons.

"So, this is where the magic happens. Quaint." Optimus said looking around the base.

The kids, June and Silas looked at the scene that was playing before them. Raf, still angry about what Optimus did to him, couldn't take it and ran out from his hiding place.

"Raf!" Jack yelled.

"Rafael, no!" June yelled.

Optimus looked over to see Raf and the other humans running up to him.

"You." Raf said before Jack caught him.

"Ah." Optimus began as Knock Out got in front of him and aim his blasters. "You're looking much better than the last time we meet, little one. Humans, resilient."

"Come on, Raf. He isn't worth it." Jack said as June took him and comforted him.

"Elita told me about you, young one. I never forget a face, even that of a human." Optimus informed.

Jack just glared at Optimus before he walked away. Miko looked at Jack before she looked back at Optimus.

"You double cross anyone, mine is the face you'll never forget. Never!" Miko declared.

Fortunately, Silas managed to grab Miko and pulled her back, while Optimus just looked at her not amused.

"Soundwave, obtain the destination coordinates from our guest." Megatron instructed.

Optimus and Soundwave walked over to the ground bridge while the other Decepticons still aimed their weapons at the Autobot leader. While the humans left the main hall, someone followed them.

"Jack." Megatron said before he knelt down. "Will you keep something for me?"

"Sure." Jack answered.

Megatron pulled out a small thing-like metal. It transformed until it becoming smaller, enough so Jack could grab it with his hand.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It is… the key to the ground bridge power supply." Megatron answered.

"Okay but, shouldn't Soundwave or Shockwave have this?" Jack asked.

"Perhaps, but I've been impressed by how much you have matured since we first meet. As such, I feel you have earned the responsibility of safeguarding this important device, until I return." Megatron explained.

Jack looked at it before he looked back at Megatron. "I won't let you down."

With that done, Megatron returned to the main hall, where the ground bridge was opened and Optimus waiting next to it.

"Lock and ready." Shockwave said as the other Decepticons were ready for departure.

"You first." Airachnid said looking at Optimus.

"As you wish." Optimus said as he bowed before he walked through.

The Decepticons looked back to see their human friends looking at them. They started to get into the portal. Megatron looked back at them one more time before he went with the others, leaving them with Shockwave. On the other side of the portal, Optimus and the Decepticons arrived in a very strange place: huge metal bridges and walls with veins glowing dark energon, they were inside of Unicron's body.

"So, how long before Unicron knows we're here?" Airachnid asked.

"Make no mistake, he already does." Optimus answered.

Optimus and the Decepticons continued walking through the core not knowing that they were being watched by Unicron's eye.

To be continued…


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six- Sacrifice**

The Decepticons and Optimus continued to walk through the many tunnels or veins of Unicron's body. Suddenly, Optimus clutched his head in pain and fell to his knees as he saw another vision: cracks formed in the Earth as dark energon glowed through it; it spread throughout the earth until the planet itself exploded. After that, Optimus widened his eyes as he regained his senses.

"Unicron grows ever stronger." Optimus said before he got up and continued walking, leaving everyone suspicious.

"How do we know Unicron isn't using Optimus to lead us all into a trap?" Airachnid asked.

"We do not." Megatron answered as he continued walking.

Airachnid activated her spider legs before she and everyone else continued forward. Little did they know that something was following them. Meanwhile, as an electric storm hit above Jasper, inside the Decepticon base everyone was watching the news to know how worse the situation was in the rest of the world.

"More than 60 volcanoes are erupting worldwide. And downtown Honolulu is under six inches of snow. Scientists continue to devise theories connecting these unprecedented natural disasters to the planetary alignment which…" the TV said until it shuts off by itself.

"So, who wants to play a game?" June asks, trying to lighten up the mood.

"That tears it!" Silas exclaimed as he marched towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" June asked.

"I can't just stay here while the rest of the world spins out of control." Silas answered in frustration.

"And what exactly is it that you intend to do?" Shockwave asked.

"Anything! Hook up with my boys at the Pentagon! Figure out a way to bury that monster for good!" Silas answered in frustration.

"In the event Megatron can't?" Shockwave retorted.

"Don't you mean Megatron and Optimus?" Silas corrected angrily.

"No one here is thrilled about this arrangement, agent Silas, myself include. But with Optimus and Megatron together again." Shockwave began.

"Whoa, wait, again?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Optimus was a Decepticon?" Raf asked.

"Megatron was a Bot?" Miko asked.

"No, on either count, but there was a time, back on Cybertron, in the twilight hours of the golden age where Optimus and Megatron were not sworn enemies." Shockwave began. "Do you recall when I mention that Megatron wasn't always the Decepticon leader? Well, he wasn't always Megatron either. When he was younger, Megatron worked inside an energon mine, as a miner named D-16. During his stay there, he witnessed the cruelty made by the guards, showing a clear difference between the cybertronian classes. After one of the workers was killed by the guards, a riot broke out. D-16 tried to protect the remaining workers during the riot, but he killed one of the guards in the process. Knowing that he cannot longer remain in that horrible place, D-16 ran away until he arrived Kaon, where he found a new life as a gladiator; it was there when I met him for the first time. Over time, he enjoyed his new life as he became champion of the pits, and decided to name himself after one of the thirteen original Primes: Megatronus. One day, Megatronus met a clerk of the Iacon Hall of Records, named Orion Pax. Same as him, Megatronus learned more about Cybertron's past, and he grew increasingly concerned about the present corruption in high places, an inequality among the masses. With masses hailing him, Megatronus vowed to challenge Cybertron's leadership and demanded that all cybertronians be treated as equals. With that, he gathered a loyal following, Soundwave chief among them. Orion became corresponding with Megatronus, who came to be something of a mentor to him. As Megatronus left the gladiatorial arena for the political, he saw fit to shorten his name. Before long, Megatron was going to appear before the high council to proposed his vision for the just society, but what was not expected is that Orion was also present there, accompanied by his teacher: Sentinel Prime, one of the corrupted Primes whose rumors said they had their own plans for him. Orion appeared before the council, and it was here that he began to reveal his true colors. Proclaiming the need to overthrow the old guard with force and arrogantly demanding to be named the next Prime. But Megatron did not believe in massive violence as a means of achieving justice. The sparks and minds of the council were moved by Megatron's words. Here, for the first time since Cybertron's golden age, stood someone worthy of being a true Prime. But that honor could only, truly be achieved by earning the legendary Matrix of Leadership. His ambitions thwarted, Orion spitefully severed all ties with Megatron and the council. The actual Primes came to wage war on all who opposed them through their growing army of followers, which they named Autobots. They vowed to recover the matrix for themselves, wherever it might lie. Even they try to demonize those ones who opposed them, calling them Decepticons, but everyone saw them as freedom fighters, so Megatron and his followers joined them. In time, warfare consumed Cybertron, poisoning the planet to its core. Megatron journeyed there, hoping to reverse the ill effects, and found himself before the very spark of our life giver, Primus himself. The ailing Primus sensed the innate nobility within Megatron and bestowed the matrix upon him. But in the last moment, the dark renegaded Primes trapped Megatron from getting the matrix, revealing that they followed him. And while he was not able to do anything, Orion grabbed the matrix and placed it within his spark. And it was in that moment when Orion Pax became Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots." Shockwave told.

"So, Megatron is truly the last of the Primes. Optimus is an impostor, or a usurper." Raf deduced.

"Exactly, a shadow of the Primes. And that is the reason why he's the only one who can use the matrix correctly to stop Unicron." Shockwave added.

"So Megatron got the matrix from Cybertron's core, and now he's gonna give it to Earth's?" Miko asked.

"What's stop Optimus from just claiming the matrix for himself this time around?" Jack asked.

"Only his greater desire to save this planet so that he may in turn conquer it. As he so compellingly argued, providing the lord of the Autobots can never be fully trusted." Shockwave replied.

Inside Unicron, the group reached to another bridge.

"Unicron's spark is near." Optimus reported.

"After you." Airachnid said.

Optimus didn't say anything as he continued to walk forward while everyone followed. Suddenly, Breakdown groaned as he clutched his head.

"( **Breaky, are you okay?** )" Stinger asked.

"I'm fine, Sting. Just woozy." Breakdown answered.

"The dark energon, it's starting to affect him." Soundwave realized before he and Knock Out began to help him across.

"Steady as you go, Breaky." Starscream said.

Optimus stopped as the dark energon in his chest began to glow. "He's preparing to expel us." He said.

Suddenly everyone heard a loud screeching noise and looked around. They all spotted a swarm of mutant creatures flying toward them, making them activate their weapons.

"What are those things?" Starscream asked.

"As we are within Unicron's body, it stands to reason they are some sort of antibody." Megatron answered preparing his fusion canon.

As the antibodies began to charge at them, they all fired. They managed to kill some of them, but more kept coming. The antibodies began to fire lasers at them. Megatron slice one near him with his sword. Airachnid flipped into the air and fired at another one, but the force of the explosion sent her flying. She recovered as she hit another antibody and landed on a different vein. Breakdown smashed two more with his hammer, but then he felt woozy again. His vision began to blur as he swayed a little. He actually fell off of the vein, but grabbed it at the last second as he dangle in the air.

"Breakdown!" Knock Out noticed as he stops firing, ran over to him and grabbed his hand as he let go of the ledge.

"Knock, let me go. I'll only take you down with me." Breakdown pleaded.

Meanwhile, Megatron and Optimus were fighting together, guarding each other's blind spots as they attacked in sync, firing and slicing together. They ended up back to back for a brief moment. They looked at each other for a moment before they moved out of the way of a shot. Airachnid sliced an antibody before she fired at him, causing it to explode. She widened her eyes as she looked up to see Breakdown dangling by a threat, with Knock Out grabbing his hand and Stinger helping him with the other, because Starscream and Soundwave were too busy flying and being chased by the antibodies.

"Just let go, buddies." Breakdown begged.

"Breakdown!" Airachnid yelled.

Breakdown grew scared as he was slipping from Knock Out's fingers. The moment he slipped, someone else caught him, it was Megatron.

"I got ya." Megatron grunted as he pulled Breakdown onto the vein.

"Please, don't scare us that way ever again!" Knock Out yelled.

Breakdown shook his head before everyone continued firing. The Decepticons and Optimus ran down the vein towards Unicron's spark chamber. Airachnid was still fighting in the other vein.

"Airachnid! Let's go. We'll cover you!" Starscream said while he and Soundwave came toward her.

Airachnid changed to his alt mode and flew toward the vein where everyone was. Starscream and Soundwave launched a lot of missiles which destroyed the antibodies which chased Airachnid. They landed and ran ahead of everyone else. The Decepticons and Optimus continued firing as the antibodies followed them. Meanwhile, inside the Autobot warship there was a discussion.

"No! We must follow our master's last orders!" Bee shouted.

"Yes, but at what cost?! Surely Optimus wisdom has remained unquestionable, but his current behavior has been questionable recently." Ratchet analyzed.

"And it seems that Earth is nothing more than a failed experiment." Wheeljack added.

"Did any of you made contact with Optimus?" Bee asked.

"Not until he left to meet the chaos bringer, and Blaster has been unable to detect our master's signal." Cliifjumper said.

"So, what should we do?" Bulkhead asked.

"If you ask me, maybe Smokescreen previous idea wasn't so bad." Arcee said.

"What?" Smokescreen said nervously. "Ha, I was just missing around only."

"What are you suggesting, Arcee?" Bulkhead asked.

"I am suggesting that an exodus could be the most prudent course of action." Arcee explained.

"Wait, are you suggesting we just abandon Optimus Prime?" Smokescreen asked surprised.

"Anyone has a better idea? Who's with me?" Arcee asked.

"No one can survive Unicron, not even one Prime, alone. I'm with you, partner." Cliff said raising his hand.

"Surely the big guy has left us behind. I support you." Wheeljack said.

"Me too." Bulkhead added.

"Ugh, okay. I guess we've waited long enough." Ratchet said in defeat raising his hand.

"Ratchet, no. I know Optimus will succeed, he always does!" Bee said in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Bumblebee, but there is nothing we can do for him now!" Ratchet retorted.

"What about you, Smokey?" Cliff asked.

Smokescreen was undecided. On one side, like Bee, he wants to believe that Optimus was still alive and don't make the same mistake of loyalty like Grimlock; but on the other side the situation was too bad to stay and do nothing.

"I don't know guys, but I'm sure Blaster will vote for us to stay." Smokescreen admitted.

"Okay, so two against five. We won." Cliffjumper counted while Bee put his head down as defeat.

"I'll tell the troops to get ready for departure." Wheeljack informed.

"So, any idea where we go?" Ratchet said walking to the control panels.

"Let's try Regulon Four." Arcee suggested.

"No!" A huge scream caught everyone's attention. It was Elita One, with Blaster blocking their way to the ship's navigation systems. "We're stay." She said coldly.

"But commander, Earth is lost. Optimus is missing, the only thing we can do now is…" Arcee began.

"Optimus never failed in any mission, and I know he's not gone, he's still alive." Elita said looking Arcee, face to face.

"How do you know it?" Arcee asked with fear.

"Long ago, my sparkmate shared the power of the Matrix of Leadership with me, so we have a strong connection within our sparks. I can feel his's isn't defeated yet, fighting against Unicron's influence, so he's strong. I know he'll succeed; he will come back, so where not moving anywhere! And if you have a problem with that, you have a problem with me, understood?!" Elita shouted, making Arcee to fall behind before she nodded. "Everyone, return to your posts!"

"Whoa, she's very directly with the doubtful ones." Smokey said.

"She's worry about Optimus, Smokey. It's normal that she acted that way." Bee remarked.

No one, even Blaster saw it, but Elita began to drop energon tears, worried so much about her mate. By Blaster wasn't the only one having troubles with communications, because the Decepticon base lost contact with the team.

"Communication links are down, as expected. But we've lost their signal." Shockwave reported.

"Doesn't that mean…?" Raf began worried.

"Usually. But a more logical explanation would be the severe interference caused by these electromagnetic anomalies." Shockwave explained with intention to relieve Raf.

"So if we can't track them and they can't contact us?" Raf began.

"How are you gonna know they're ready for pickup?" Miko finished.

Before Shockwave can answer everyone heard a metal like noise and turned to see Jack tapping with the key on the railing.

"Where did you get that?" Shockwave asked in shock.

"Megatron. Honestly, I don't know why he gave me the key to the ground bridge power supply." Jack answered.

"Jack, there is no key to the ground bridge." Shockwave explained.

"Well then, what is this?" Jack asked.

"That is the key to Vector Sigma." Shockwave answered.

"The what?!" Jack asked again.

"You are holding one of Cybertron's most important relics." Shockwave declared.

"I shouldn't have this." Jack said as he tried to hand the key to Shockwave.

"Megatron entrusted it to you, Jack." Shockwave said.

"But that doesn't make any sense? Why?" Jack asked.

"Because he doesn't plan on coming back." Shockwave declared.

Meanwhile, inside Unicron, the antibodies chased the Decepticons and Optimus to the spark chamber entrance. The Decepticons kept firing at them while Optimus stabbed one antibody before shot at one and slice another in half. But then, he heard a voice in his head.

" **Optimus, do as I command. Destroy Megatron.** " Unicron ordered as Megatron stabbed the antibodies.

Optimus yelled as a loud ringing came into his head before he clutched it and fell to his knees.

"Optimus!" Megatron called out as he ran up to him.

Optimus yelled in pain as he grabbed Megatron's shoulder and moved him out of the way before he fired at an antibody.

"Unicron's spark lies just beyond." Optimus pointed as he regained his composure.

"How do we get inside?" Megatron asked.

"By fooling Unicron's defenses into believing we're not a threat." Optimus answered as the dark energon of his chest glowed. Then he stood before the entrance and it opened, leading a passage directly into Unicron's spark.

"Decepticons, I will need you to keep our attackers at bay for as long as you can." Megatron instructed before he ran after Optimus towards Unicron's spark.

"We've gotta hold fast. For lord Megatron." Starscream declared.

Optimus and Megatron stood before Unicron's glowing spark. Optimus stared at it for a bit longer before he turned to Megatron.

"Megatron." He said, catching his attention. Then his chest opened to reveal an object which Megatron recognized: the Matrix of Leadership.

"Swiftly." Optimus said, hanging the matrix to Megatron, who grabbed it and began to walk towards Unicron's spark.

But Unicron's spark released energy waves. Megatron grunted in pain as the waves hit him, causing him fell to his knees. When the waves hit Optimus, he yelled in pain as he saw Unicron.

" **Optimus.** " Unicron called out as Optimus opened his eyes, revealing a steaming purple. " **Destroy Megatron, I command you!** "

Optimus struggled as he activated his blade and walked over to Megatron ready to kill him. But before he could strike him, Optimus stopped himself.

"Optimus Prime is commanded by NO ONE!" Optimus declared before he continued to keep his willpower strong.

Then the volcano continued to erupt as a strong earthquake began which was noted inside the base.

"Earthquake!" Silas yelled.

"Take cover!" Shockwave yelled as he covered everyone.

At the same time, Unicron's influence made Optimus's body shut down and he fell to the floor unconscious. Megatron struggle to stand up, but managed to get on his feet.

"Matrix of Leadership, I call upon you." Megatron said, and then the matrix began to glow.

" **You cannot defeat me, disciple of Primus. I have transcended physical being. By my will alone, all upon this world shall fall into chaos!** " Unicron declared as he took control over Optimus body, glowing in purple flames.

"Not while I still function, Unicron. The power of the matrix, will light our darkest hour!" Megatron retorted before he put the matrix inside his chest.

" **NO!** " Unicron yelled as he aimed Optimus's cannons at him, but it was too late.

The Matrix of Leadership shot out from Megatron's chest and into Unicron's spark. This caused energy to be released in the area, sending Optimus flying. Megatron collapsed on his knees as the matrix was completely expelled. Unicron let out a cry as his spark vanished into thin air. The Decepticons continued battling against the antibodies when they all suddenly dropped to the floor. The team sighed in relief while Breakdown fell to his knees. Suddenly, the volcano stooped erupting and turned normal, tornadoes vanished into thin air, tidal waves calmed down and clouds began to clear up as light shined down on Earth once more. Inside base, everyone noticed the earthquake was gone.

"There could be aftershocks." June warned.

Then something came to the computer.

"Do you think?" Jack asked.

"I do." Shockwave answered as he checked for life signals.

All the Decepticons faces appeared, including Optimus's, showing that they were alive and kicking. Everyone began cheering about the fact that they won. Then Silas hugged June, who was pretty shocked. Silas stopped and let go of her while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, something that Jack noted. Blaster detected that too.

"What is it, Blaster?" Elita asked.

When he showed it to her, she smiled.

"I knew it, he's alive. Bring him back, now." She ordered, so Blaster began to activate the ground bridge.

Still inside Unicron, Optimus rubbed his head as he slowly stood up, with his eyes red again. He saw the Matrix of Leadership a few meters, so he grab it and put it inside his chest. He heard someone groan and turned to see Megatron rubbing his head.

"Teamwork, hm." Optimus smirked as he changed his hand into a sword.

Megatron looked up to Optimus as he came up towards him, with his vision blurred. Optimus was ready to kill him.

"Where are we, Orion?" Megatron asked.

Optimus looked at him like he was crazy, but realized that he could use that to his advantage. So he transformed his blade into a hand and offered it, which Megatron accepted.

"Don't you remember, old friend?" Optimus asked as he removed his battle mask.

They both heard a pounding noise and turned to see Breakdown smash through the wall with the other Decepticons behind him.

"Megatron, are you okay?" Breakdown asked.

"Why did he call me that?" Megatron asked in confusion.

"What did you do to him?" Starscream demanded.

"Who are they? And why is Soundwave with them?" Megatron asked.

Then a ground bridge appeared behind them, and someone came through it.

"Optimus! I'm glad that you're…okay." Elita One said before she saw Megatron next to Optimus.

"Ariel?" Megatron asked.

"They're our mortal enemies! We're outnumbered. Go with her, I'll cover you!" Optimus said as he fired at the Decepticons. "Elita, escort him to the ship! Trust me!"

Elita nodded. "Come on, we'll be behind you!"

They all jumped out of the way as Megatron ran towards the portal. He stopped before he looked back.

"My liege, no." Soundwave said with sadness.

Megatron just ran through the portal as Optimus and Elita kept firing. The Decepticons ran toward them, but the two Autobots ran through it before it closed. The Decepticons widened their eyes, their leader was gone. On the base, Shockwave activated the ground bridge while the humans waited in front of it. The Decepticons returned with a depressed look on their faces.

"Airachnid!" Jack said.

"I was worried, Breaky!" Miko said.

"You alright, Sting." Raf asked.

"And lord Megatron?" Shockwave demanded. "Is he…?"

"Dead? No." Airachnid answered.

"But he looked right at us without recognizing us. Didn't even know his own name." Knock Out explained.

"When Megatron surrendered the Matrix of Leadership, he lost more than the collective wisdom of the Primes, he lost his own memories." Starscream declared.

Meanwhile on the Ark, Optimus Prime, holding hands with Elita One, walked into the main deck to see everyone bowing to him.

"Welcome back, Optimus Prime." Ratchet greeted.

He didn't say anything as he stepped to the side revealing Megatron, who was right behind him.

"What in the Allspark?!" Smokescreen shouted.

"What is he doing here?" Arcee asked in confusion.

"Leave him to me." Bulkhead said activating his wrecking ball and start charging.

"At ease, Bulkhead. That is no way to welcome a long lost comrade." Elita said stopping him.

"The gladiator Megatronus is one of us." Optimus declared.

To be continued…


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven- Leader Lost**

"In high site, we accomplished what was required. With Unicron's awakening, extreme measure needed to be taken: enemies became allies, allies became confidantes. And with the Matrix of Leadership, planet Earth was saved. Though in at immeasurable, personal cost. When lord Megatron surrendered the matrix, he lost more than the collective wisdom of the Primes. He lost himself." Starscream explained the previous events to everyone.

"That doesn't follow. Megatron knew Optimus." Airachnid said.

"They were like BFFs." Breakdown added.

"( **But Megatron didn't even know his own name, remember?** )" Stinger remembered.

"If Megatron did not know his own name, perhaps it is because he hadn't been named leader of the Decepticons yet." Shockwave concluded.

"Huh?" Silas asked.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Say again?" Miko asked.

"With the power of the matrix no longer within him, it would stand to reason that Megatron has reverted to his previous state." Shockwave explained.

"The gladiator Megatronus." Soundwave said.

"You mean in his mind." June assumed.

"Are you telling me Megatron thinks he's some kind of fighter, and an Autobot?!" Silas yelled.

Meanwhile, in the Ark's bridge…

"Attention crew, our guest is currently in isolation, to help ease his transition. But when Megatronus emerges, he is to be shown every courtesy, and the first to address him as Megatron, will have their voice box torn out." Optimus said through the com-link.

"Optimus, is it wise to allow a Decepticon, current or former, full run of the premises?" Bumblebee asked.

"Nothing happens aboard this ship without my knowledge. But there is no need for concern. Megatronus does not possess the same fight Megatron is so renowned for." Optimus said.

"Then what use is he to our cause?" Arcee asked.

"Rest assure. Megatronus will indeed earn his strips." Elita One declared.

At the same time, Megatronus was inside the medical bay, on a berth as Ratchet was doing something with his chest.

"Welcome back to the winning team." Ratchet said, revealing that now Megatronus have the Autobot insignia in the same place he used to have the Decepticon insignia.

Meanwhile, at base…

"Being an Autobot is a choice, agent Silas. One that I have a hard time believing Megatron would make at any point in his life." Starscream explained.

"So if he's riding with the Bots." Breakdown began.

"It's because Prime's working some kind of voodoo." Knock Out finished.

"Megatronus may not currently be a Decepticon up here." Starscream said pointing his head. "But I believe he will never stop being one in here." Starscream said now pointing his chest. "We must locate him, to know for certain."

"Hold up. I have a chip logged somewhere on my body that let my superiors when I'm taking a break. Are you telling me you can't just track Megatron?" Silas asked.

"Megatron's signal has not reappeared since we embarked for Earth's core, but we must get to work finding him." Starscream said.

"Especially if we have any hope of initiating his contingency plan." Shockwave said.

"Contingency plan?" Starscream asked.

"What contingency?" Knock Out asked.

"Is that even a word?" Miko asked.

"The key card." Jack said pulling out the key. "So what's it do?"

"It grants access to Vector Sigma. The repository of the wisdom of the Primes." Shockwave answered.

"Is that some sort of super computer?" Raf asked.

"So we can just download Megatron's memories back into him?" Jack asked with excitement. "Great! Which one is the big V? Over here? Somewhere in back?"

"Vector Sigma is more than a super computer, Jack. It is an ancient source of mystical power. On Cybertron." Shockwave said.

Meanwhile, Optimus walked inside the Ark's bridge, with Megatronus following him, with all the Autobot troopers looking at him with shock.

"Welcome back, Megatronus." Elita said on the bridge.

"Ariel. You look some kind of different." Megatronus observed.

"I'm not a clerk anymore, the same as Optimus. So, my name's now Elita One." Elita answered.

"You have been a captive of the Decepticons, and locked in stasis for quite some time, Megatronus. Long enough for us to be in exodus on another world." Optimus explained.

"Exodus, why?" Megatronus questioned.

"Because the supreme overlord Starscream's careless actions led to this." Optimus answered as he showed Megatronus an image that led him in shock.

"Cybertron." Megatronus said looking Cybertron dead and dark.

Optimus and Elita smirked as they saw Megatronus's face turned into pure anger and rage. Inside base, someone was upset too.

"Jackson Darby, you will not be travelling to another planet." June declared.

"I'm in." Miko volunteered.

"You're not going either, Miko. Not when one of you can." June said looking at the Decepticons.

"June is right. Why send a boy to do a Con's job?" Silas asked.

"Because only a Prime can access Vector Sigma, or one chosen by a Prime. Megatron gave the key card to Jack. It is now imprinted with his unique bio signature." Shockwave explained.

"So you mean Jack is like some kind of honorary Prime?" Miko asked.

"Let's just say Jack is the only one who can return Megatron to the Decepticon we knew." Shockwave answered.

"But why would Megatron willingly endanger a human, a child?" June demanded.

"I'm not a child, mom, I'm 16 years old. I'm a teenager already!" Jack retorted.

"Maybe Megatron believes there's more to Jack than meets the eye." Airachnid suggested.

"All of which is moot. The key card is useless to us without a means of reaching Cybertron. Which we at present do not possess." Starscream said.

"Dude, what about that?" Miko pointed at the ground bridge.

"Miko, the ground bridge barely got them into Earth's orbit, remember?" Raf retorted.

"Yeah, but Shockwave and Soundwave built it. Can they just turbo charge the thing?" Miko suggested.

That made Shockwave though the idea over. Meanwhile, Megatronus was in shock.

"I cannot believe Starscream's capable of such horrors." Megatron said in disbelief.

"Yes. And to think the emperor of destruction's mad quest of power continues. His marauders pursued us to this planet's orbit. We feel its species are not ready to behold us, but we have resolved to protect this world from the same tragedy which was dealt to our own." Elita explained.

"One question, Optimus. Why our enemies are called Decepticons?" Megatronus asked.

"Another craven scare tactic of them. That name is meant to bring fear, and they wear it as a symbol of their power quest." Optimus said, as Megatronus nodded his head in understanding. "Now please Megatronus, there will be plenty of time for catching up. You must rest." Optimus said as he and Elita walked away.

"Optimus." Megatronus called out, causing him to stop in his tracks. "I will do my part to stop Starscream's unspeakable crimes off aggression. This I vow, with my entire spark. And I'm happy for you two, for the step you have given." He said, referring at them being together.

Optimus smiled darkly as they left Megatronus to himself in the bridge.

"It seems we have successfully achieved control of Megatronus's spark." Elita said.

"Now we must put his mind to work. Have you sanitized the data core?" Optimus asked Blaster, who nodded. "Excellent. My new work partner will require unlimited access to our files. It would be counterproductive for him to stumble upon any sensitive information."

At next day, Jack was still in his job post.

"Two body slam burgers specials. Enjoy." Jack said handing the meal to the customer.

When the car left, Jack widened his eyes in surprise as he saw Sierra waving hello to him.

"Hey, Jack." Sierra greeted.

"Sierra." Jack said.

"How come I never see you around?" Sierra asked.

"What are you talking about? We have chemistry together." Jack said, only for Sierra to give him a funny look. "Uh, class, chemistry class."

"I mean outside school. I never see you at any parties, or the mall." Sierra corrected.

"Well, mostly I'm here, wearing the hat. And you never can't study too hard for those old SATs, you know. And there's some other stuff." Jack said.

Then a buzzy noise came from inside.

"Don't go anywhere." Jack said as Sierra just smiled.

"Welcome to KO drive-in, may I take your…" Jack began.

"5pm Jack, your shift is over. Let's go." Airachnid said over the speaker.

"Oh, that kind of stuff." Sierra said with a hint of sadness as she walked away.

"Sierra, wait!" Jack shouted as he though an answer. "She's my mother."

Then Airachnid landed next to them, but Sierra was able to see a female figure inside: Airachnid's holoform.

"Your mom looks good in leather, on your helicopter." Sierra said awkwardly before she walked away. Jack simply sighed.

"Didn't mean to decimate your social life." Airachnid apologized.

"Not the first time. Any sign of Megatron?" Jack asked.

"Not today." She said with disappointment.

"Not yet." Jack declared with determination.

Meanwhile, aboard the Ark, Optimus was talking with Smokescreen.

"When the Decepticons stormed the Iacon Hall of Records on the waning days of the war for Cybertron, they tried to acquire highly classified files. Fortunately, Alpha Trion managed to get his hands on those files and made sure that they reached mine. Files written with Autobot codes which no one has been able to decipher. But now I can use my ancient skills of archivist to see what those codes hide." Optimus explained.

"Yeah, I worked in that place too, so I know they could hide important devices. So what kind of help could our new gladiator gives us?" Smokescreen asked.

"When we weren't enemies, Megatronus visited me more times than I can count, so I'm sure he managed to learn something about my work. That help is what I need to ensure we'll decipher those codes." Optimus remarked.

"Considering what's at stake, shouldn't we beef up the security around here?" Smokescreen suggested.

"Smokescreen, I believe that Megatronus will perform most affectively if he does not feel threatened or confined in any way. However, it is no coincidence that Megatronus's work station is located in direct proximity to the energon storage vault." Optimus explained.

"Which is under constant surveillance, well played." Smokescreen smirked.

"Now if you excuse me, Smokescreen, my work with Megatronus starts now." Optimus said entering the room.

Raf was drawing when he heard a sudden beeping noise and looked over to see Shockwave, Soundwave and Knock Out working on the ground bridge.

"Guys, are you turbo charging the ground bridge?" Raf asked in surprise.

"Tinkering. No need to get anyone's hopes up just yet." Knock Out answered.

At the same time, Megatronus and Optimus were typing onto the keyboard, when one cybertronian writing turned blue.

"Optimus, how fair's Project Iacon?" Elita asked entering the room.

"I am a bit rusty, I fear." Megatronus answered.

"We've only managed to decode three entries." Optimus announced.

"And what do these entries comprise?" Elita asked interested.

"They were logged by Autobot archivists during the war, after Megatronus entered stasis. My only knowledge of their contents so far is of they are coordinates. Targeting locations on this very planet." Optimus explained as a diagram of Earth appeared, showing three marked locations. "I surmise that they could indicate hiding places for vessels. Shuttled from Cybertron for safe keeping."

"Such as historical documents or cultural artifacts?" Elita asked.

"My greatest fear would be weapons of mass destruction. Hidden away for later use." Megatronus answered.

"All the more reason that it is essential that we do everything in our power to keep said vessels from Decepticon reach. We are fortunate to have you on our side, Megatronus. Continue by yourself by now, I have other things to attempt." Optimus said as he began to walk to the exit with Elita.

"Lord Optimus." Megatronus called out, making Optimus stopped in his tracks. "I am puzzled by one particular finding. I have discovered several historical references to Grimlock as your second in command, yet I have not seen him aboard the ship." He asked showing an image of Grimlock.

Optimus turned to Megatronus. "Sadly general Grimlock is dead." He said before he left the room and meet Elita in the bridge.

"Megatronus asks many questions. A valuable trait for a gladiator with so many archivist knowledge, but not in an Autobot. You know better than anyone that it is a matter of time before he unravels our fabrications as his innate sense of right and wrong rises to the surface." She told him.

"You're right. I only hope that Megatronus help me to complete Project Iacon before I am forced to destroy him. Once and for all." Optimus admitted.

In the Decepticon base, the scientist continued working on the ground bridge when they received a transmission.

"Starscream! Are you there? This is an emergency!" Silas yelled through the com-link.

"Agent Silas, is it lord Megatron?" Starscream asked as he walked up to the computer screen.

"It's Bots. And they're busting into the same military research lab they hit two months ago." Silas answered.

"( **They must be looking for their power source.** )" Stinger deduced.

"Another space bridge?" Breakdown asked.

"For all we know Megatron is riding with them." Airachnid said.

"Decepticons, rise up." Starscream instructed.

A lot of thanks fired at the Wreckers and Smokescreen, who now had the power source and returned fire, destroying the tanks. Then a ground bridge opened and the Decepticons came through, leaded now by Starscream.

"Drop the power source!" Starscream ordered.

"Aren't you missing someone?" Wheeljack mocked.

The Cons aimed their weapons at them, but three heavy Aerobots came flying toward them and firing. But the Decepticons managed to take them down.

"Ready for that bridge." Smokescreen said through the com-link as a ground bridge opened behind them. "We'll be sure to tell the big M you said hi." Smokescreen mocked as he ran into the portal.

Starscream took the opportunity and transformed into his alt mode and flew towards the portal.

"Starscream!" Knock Out shouted.

Starscream managed to evade the shot from the last Aerobot and cross the portal. The Autobots were walking calmly but they widened their optics as Starscream flew right above them and continued down the hall.

"Scrap." Wheeljack cursed.

Starscream continued down the hall until some Autobot heavy troopers and a leaper fired at him. He transformed and killed one of them with his blaster; next he hit the second to the wall and knocked the leaper to the ground. Before he could get up Starscream pinned him down.

"Where's Megatron?" Starscream demanded, but the leaper not responded, so he raised his hand with his claws ready. "Answer me!"

Then more Autobot troopers came down the hall firing at him, so Starscream covered himself with the leaper's body, killing him. Next he faced the Autobots, killing them one by one. When they fell, he transformed and continued the search. Unfortunately, Blaster was tracking him.

"What?!" Elita yelled as Blaster showed Starscream on his face monitor.

"That's Starscream. Their second in command." Arcee said.

"In that case, allow us to welcome him aboard." Bee said activating his weapons.

"No! If Megatronus so much as lays an eye on another Decepticon, let alone be allowed to witness it destruction, everything he currently believes will be called into question. See to it that Starscream is escorted off this ship immediately!" Optimus ordered Blaster, who nodded.

Megatronus began to heard shots coming from outside. Those shots were made by the Autobot troopers who tried to stop Starscream, but he only evaded them as he continued his search. Megatronus walked towards the door as it opened itself, revealing Autobot commandos running.

"Megatronus, please return to your station. Lord Optimus's orders." One of them said before running away.

But Megatronus decided to follow them. As Starscream continued looking for his leader, Blaster waited for him at the end of the corridor. Megatronus saw him standing, but before Starscream could past him, he charged some coordinates and opened a ground bridge just when Starscream was very close. He closed it before Megatronus arrived.

"I heard a commotion." Megatronus said, but Blaster simply walked away.

The ground bridge transported Starscream back to the north pole, where he transformed immediately and landed in surprise.

"What the…?" He asked in disbelief before he screamed loudly.

Starscream was transported back to base, where Knock Out examined him.

"You weren't able to determine the Autobots location? Or if Megatron was even aboard ship?" Shockwave asked.

"I couldn't confirm." Starscream replied.

Breakdown roared in anger as he smashed one of Knock Out's tools.

"Breakdown-!" Knock Out began.

"What?! You just buffed that?! The only thing I need is our head honcho back!" Breakdown said slamming his fists.

"It's not your fault." Jack said.

"If any of us needed rescuing, Megatron would've found a way. I didn't. Simply as that." Starscream retorted.

"Starscream! What happened out there? Reports indicated at least a dozen wounded! The heats on me to provide some explanation! You Cons better get your act together or the Pentagon will make me shut down your base!" Silas communicated through the com-link before it shut down.

"But where would you go?" Raf asked.

"Who knows? Maybe they'll ship us out to some island! Or fire us into space, wouldn't that be a welcome relief!" Knock Out said sarcastically.

"I don't blame Silas. Megatron would've evacuated all humans in the area before engaging the Bots!" Airachnid said.

"( **That would be the first thing he would have done.** )" Stinger supported.

"We don't actually know what Megatron would've done because he's not here!" Breakdown retorted.

"You're pretty good at stating the obvious, Breaky. Anything else you'd like to mention that we already know?" Airachnid asked annoyed.

"Nothing I can say in front of the children." Breakdown answered.

"Hey!" Jack interrupted. "Aren't we overlooking one positive? Nobody is talking about what the Bots just got their claws on."

"Yes. We've managed to allow them to finally acquire a power source for their space bridge!" Starscream reminded.

"And how exactly would that be a positive?" Airachnid asked.

"We let them finished building their space bridge." Jack answered.

"Why? So they can bring more zombies back from Cybertron?" Knock Out demanded.

"No. So we can commandeer it, and use it to send me to Cybertron." Jack answered.

"Whoa, that's a pretty good idea." Miko remarked.

"Oh well, if Miko thinks is a good idea." Starscream began.

"Nobody says it would be easy, but you've seized a space bridge before." Jack said.

"We blew one up. That's a whole lot different that the six of us seizing and holding one." Breakdown retorted.

"( **But what about its location?** )" Stinger asked.

"Sting's right, we'd have to find the thing first." Airachnid agreed.

"Hello! If it's a space bridge isn't it…" Miko began as she pointed upwards.

"The term space refers to its transport range, no its physical location." Shockwave corrected.

"And we've been monitoring Earth's orbit since the last one. We'd know if it were there." Soundwave added.

"So the bridge could be somewhere right here on Earth." Jack said.

"Like trying to find a servo in a scrapyard." Knock Out remarked.

"Then maybe we better start looking." Airachnid declared.

"But the fact remains, we do not know what the Autobots have in store for Megatron, or if he's truly safe from harm." Starscream said.

Outside the Ark a squadron of Aerobots finished their patrol and returned inside the Ark. But they didn't notice a transport ship which landed inside the hangar too. From inside emerge a big and familiar Autobot: Grimlock, revealing that the other passengers were dead. Grimlock made his way through the halls without being seen by the troopers. He looked over to see two guardians in front of the energon storage vault. One of them saw him walking towards then and changed to his combat form, causing the other to do it too.

"Grimlock." One of them said aiming his plasma cannons at him.

"That's general Grimlock. What's your malfunction? Lower your weapons immediately." Grimlock ordered.

"I'm sorry, sir. But Optimus Prime ordered that you'd taken into custody if should you ever return to the ship." The other guardian said.

"What? Clearly there has been a mistake." Grimlock retorted, only for him to attack the first guardian with his sword.

The second guardian accidentally fired at the light, causing it to become dark. Then Grimlock killed the second one. After that, Grimlock came out of the vault with four energon cubes. He suddenly heard footsteps as he looked to see shadows coming his way. He growled as he looked for a place to hide. He saw a door and walked through it. He looked around to see if anyone was there, but widened his optics as he saw Megatronus standing right there typing on the computers and turned to him.

"No! Megatron?!" Grimlock yelled as he dropped the energon cubes and pulled and aimed his cannons at him.

Megatronus widened his optics in shock and confusion.

To be continued…


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty Eight- Journey to Cybertron**

"Megatron?!" Grimlock exclaimed as he aimed his cannons at him.

"Please, I mean no harm." Megatronus reassured.

"No?! Then, what are you doing there?" Grimlock demanded.

"Research, for lord Optimus." Megatronus answered.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Grimlock said in confusion.

"I do not understand." Megatronus answered, so Grimlock lowered his weapons. "And why did you call me Megatron?"

"Uh, why wouldn't I?" Grimlock asked with caution.

"Because my name is Megatronus. I put it myself in honor of the warrior of darkness, one of the thirteen original Primes." Megatronus said as Grimlock looked to his Autobot emblem.

"You reminded me of someone I once knew, that's all." Grimlock lied.

"You are Grimlock?" Megatronus asked.

"Yes." Grimlock answered while raising an eyebrow.

"Lord Optimus told me you have been terminated." Megatronus recalled.

"Lord Optimus says many things, only some which are true." Grimlock said.

"You do not suggest that our leader would speak falsehoods?" Megatronus asked.

That made Grimlock laugh. "You truly are being kept in the dark, aren't you?"

"You speak in many riddles, Grimlock. Please, tell me what it is that you know." Megatronus demanded.

"And in return." Grimlock began.

Then the doors opened revealing three Autobot heavy troopers and engineers aiming their weapons at Grimlock.

"Grimlock, surrender!" One of them ordered.

Grimlock pulled out his shield to protect himself next to Megatronus.

"Hold your fire!" Megatronus instructed.

Immediately Grimlock transformed into his T-Rex form and passed through the troopers.

"Remain in the lab." One of the engineers instructed.

"But I…" Megatronus began.

"Lord Optimus orders." One of the snipers cut off before pressing the button to close the door before he transformed and chased Grimlock, leaving Megatronus confused.

The alarm was sounded and a lot of Autobots (including the Wreckers, Arcee, Cliffjumper and Smokescreen) ran to intercept Grimlock, but when the dinosaur's roar was heard, they began to run away from him with some of them screaming.

"Run for your lives!" Smokescreen shouted as he run with the others.

Grimlock began to breathe fire at the closer Autobots, even one of them tripped over and Grimlock smashed him with his foot. The trooper was carried with the foot a few steps until he was only a few pieces of scrap. The sniper which followed him landed on top of Grimlock and started shooting, but he managed to get him with his mouth and tear him apart before he launched a big shot from a hidden cannon from his back to destroy the door of the hangar. Grimlock managed to get out of the ship and jumped to the floor, but he received one shot from the ship's weapons which made him scream in pain as he was falling. Meanwhile, inside the base, an experiment was underway.

"Rafael, is the test subject ready?" Shockwave asked.

Raf put a toy car while he held the controller.

"Check. Long range GPS activated." Raf informed.

"I have doubts that our recalibrations have successfully extended ground bridge range." Shockwave said.

"But there is only one way to find out." Knock Out said activating the ground bridge.

Raf moved the car towards the ground bridge.

"Come on." Knock Out said to himself.

The car seemed to be doing fine, but then it began to spark as it blew up before it even made it through the portal, making both Decepticons sighed in disappointment.

"It was just the first try." Raf reassured, trying to cheer them up.

That made Knock Out smile a little, but not Shockwave.

"No Rafael, it was pure folly. The misguided act of desperation. It takes eons to master space bridge engineering, and no one is more accomplished than the Autobots." Shockwave said in defeat.

"You know, there's this thing in gym class where you have to climb a rope all the way to the ceiling. It's really hard, and I've never been able to do it. But when I told Sting about it, he believed in me, which made me practice a ton. Finally, just a couple of weeks ago, I made it, to the top." Raf told.

"What does any of this have to do with gym class?!" Shockwave demanded.

"I was just…I'll give you some alone time." Raf said before he left.

"He was just trying to help us, by showing that even in the hardest situations there is hope to pass all obstacles and reach our goals!" Knock Out said annoyed before he left Shockwave alone.

"Megatron, I'm so sorry." Shockwave said sadly.

Inside the Ark, Optimus went to Megatronus's work station.

"Megatronus, I am so sorry for the recent commotion. You weren't in any way harmed, were you?" Optimus asked.

"No, lord Optimus. But why did you tell me Grimlock was dead?" Megatronus asked.

"Because he's dead to our cause. Grimlock was my most trusted general, until he turned wild and joined the Decepticons. Never have I witnessed a more profound act of deceit. He did not do or say anything troubling to you?" Optimus said.

"No." Megatronus simply answered.

"Good, perhaps is best to forget the entire incident and return to our project." Optimus suggested as he walked towards the door.

"As you wish, my lord." Megatronus said before the doors closed.

Optimus growled his teeth as he meet with Bumblebee at the next corridor.

"I knew it was only matter of time that Grimlock tried to return and take advantage." Bee said.

"Megatronus was never very adapted in the art of deception. I made a mistake not terminating Grimlock when I had the opportunity. A mistake I do not intend to make again!" Optimus said as he walked with Bumblebee.

At the same time, Starscream and Soundwave retuned to base through the ground bridge and returned to their robot form.

"No sign of energon spikes." Soundwave reported.

"The others find the space bridge?" Starscream asked.

"They haven't yet reported back." Shockwave answered.

"Shockwave, you alright?" Starscream asked with concern.

"Hm, yes. Yes, let's just get you to the next quadrant." Shockwave answered after he snapped out of his thoughts.

Then the computers began blinking.

"What is it?" Starscream asked.

"A high frequency signal, with an imbedded message. For Knock Out!" Soundwave answered.

"Megatron?" Starscream asked with hope.

"Grimlock." Soundwave corrected.

"I have obtained information regarding your leader, bring medical kid, come alone." Shockwave read. "It could be a trap coming from him."

"Soundwave, main the ground bridge. Shockwave, you and I will accompany Knock Out for precaution." Starscream instructed.

Inside a forest, Grimlock laid against a boulder with a lot of energon coming from his wound. Then he saw a ground bridge portal appear with Knock Out, Starscream and Shockwave coming through it.

"I told you to come alone!" Grimlock exclaimed.

"And since when do we listen to you?" Knock Out demanded while Starscream and Shockwave prepared their weapons.

"Where is Megatron?" Starscream asked.

"Patch me up and perhaps I'll tell you." Grimlock answered.

But no one of the Decepticons did anything, making him groan.

"Have sympathy, I'm leaking here." Grimlock pleaded.

"Then I suggest that you speak quickly. Has Megatron been harmed in anyway?" Shockwave asked.

"He's fine, fine! Can't you see I'm the one who's been harmed?" Grimlock said.

"Where is he?" Knock Out yelled.

"Where do you think? He's on Optimus's warship!" Grimlock retorted.

"Which is located where?" Starscream asked.

"Now, who knows, it's a ship! It moves, it took me months to track, only to get fired upon." Grimlock ranted.

"You wouldn't go to the trouble of calling me here unless you had information to trade. Real information." Knock Out reminded.

"Very well. Your beloved leader may have lost his senses. He goes by the name Megatronus now, and it seems that Optimus has led him believe he's an Autobot." Grimlock explained.

"Tell us something we don't know." Knock Out remarked.

"What? How could you possibly know that?" Grimlock exclaimed.

"We're wasting our time." Shockwave said as the three were going to go through the ground bridge.

"Wait, that's all I have! Really! You can't just leave me like this!" Grimlock pleaded.

"Unless you know where Optimus's hiding his space bridge, you can stay here and rust." Starscream proclaimed.

"Space Bridge?" Grimlock questioned before widened his optics. "Do you mean to tell me that they actually finished building it without my supervision?!"

Starscream and Shockwave looked each other before looking at Grimlock again, who smirked.

"It hurts most right here, doctor." He said.

Back in base, Soundwave showed everyone the location of the space bridge.

"The Autobot space bridge is located right here. Deep inside an energon mine." Soundwave said.

"Adjacent to a raw fuel supply, clever." Knock Out observed.

"What's our intel?" Airachnid asked.

"A…reliable source." Starscream hesitate to reply, so Airachnid looked him with a suspicious look. "So, do we have a consensus?"

"Do we know if people can even breathe your atmosphere?" June demanded.

"I'll hook Jack up." Silas answered, so June looked at him with worry. "Completely state of the art. I still have connections on NASA."

"It's too dangerous." June retorted.

"Mom, I know that this is hard, but Megatron risked his life to save our planet, and he's not even human. We owe it to him." Jack explained.

"Jack may be the only one who can do this, June. But I don't want you to think for one moment that I'll allow him to travel unchaperoned." Airachnid said.

"Not everyone is destined for an ordinary life. Lord Megatron was once Megatronus after all." Shockwave told June.

June looked over at Jack and smiled. "When you were little, you always wanted to be an astronaut." She said, making him smile.

At the same time, inside the Ark, Megatronus was doing his own research.

"Okay, Megatron." Megatronus said as he typed some buttons on the keyboard and an image of Megatron came up. "Megatron: leader of the Decepticon invaders. I reminded Grimlock of him. And Optimus said Lord Starscream was the Decepticon leader. Someone is not telling the truth."

Meanwhile, inside the Decepticon base, the team was getting ready for their most complicated mission so far.

"We will ground bridge directly into the energon mine, and make our way to the space bridge chamber, neutralizing any Autobot enforcements we encounter. Once we secure the space bridge, we'll send for Jack. Stealth must be an absolute priority. We will most certainly outnumbered, and if any Autobot should transmit an alert to the warship." Starscream explained.

"The odds become 400 to 1." Breakdown finished.

"Scrambling communications upon entry will certainly provide an edge in this regard." Soundwave added.

"Taking the bridge is the easy part. You six need to hold it long enough for Jack, and me to get to Cybertron and back." Airachnid proclaimed.

"Rafael climbed to the top of the rope in gym class. We can do this." Shockwave declared, making Raf smile.

"What does gym class have to do with anything? And if Shockwave get to go on a commando raid…I'm going too!" Miko declared.

"Miko, you will help Rafael operate our ground bridge and manage the communication ops." Starscream instructed.

Miko growled before she crossed her arms and stormed away. "Can't go to Cybertron, can't stormed the Autobot space bridge."

"And nurse Darby would stand by in case of emergency." Starscream instructed.

"Son, it's time to suit up." Silas proclaimed.

The ground bridge opened inside the mine and all the Decepticons came out with their weapons ready.

"Clear." Breakdown said.

"Clear." Airachnid said too.

They all ran down the cave as they made their way to the space bridge. Two Autobot engineers were keeping guard next to a drill. Airachnid jumped onto the top of the drill before she landed in front of the Autobots. She eliminated one of them, and before the other fired, Stinger smashed him inti the drill. Another Autobot tank tried to fire at them, but Knock Out immobilized him with his electric staff and Breakdown hit his head with his hammer. Another trooper saw this.

"Command, this is space bridge control, we are under attack!" The Autobot reported, but he only received static. "Command, do you read?" He said before Shockwave smashed him with his cannon.

"Sh." Starscream said walking along with Soundwave, who was blocking the signal with his antenna.

Everyone arrived to an elevator, which toke them down to the lower floor. Right there was an Autobot guardian guarding the lift.

"Going down." Breakdown said as he transformed both hands into hammers and smashed the guardian's head.

They continued advancing until they arrived to a big chamber and hid behind boulders.

"By the Allspark." Starscream breathed.

In front of them, there was the space bridge, guarded by a lot of Autobot troopers, Aerobots, snipers, heavy soldiers and engineers.

"Thank you, Grimlock." Knock Out said, making Breakdown to look at him in shock. "Who else would it be?"

Two Autobots heard a sound and they saw a drill thrown out at them. They tried to destroy it by shooting, but it smashed them first. After that, all the team came shooting at the Autobots, who responded by the same way. Fortunately, they managed to neutralize all of them very fast. After that, Shockwave walked to the space bridge control panel.

"A masterpiece of engineering." Shockwave said.

"Operational?" Starscream asked.

"Fully." Shockwave answered after touching the panel.

"Perimeter secured." Breakdown informed.

"It wasn't so hard at the end." Knock Out said.

"Now the scary part." Airachnid said.

"Shutting down the scrambler in order to contact base and maintain communication for the remainder of the mission." Soundwave declared.

Inside base, everyone was waiting.

"Strike team to base. Objective secure." Starscream informed through the com-link.

"That's your cue." Silas said to Jack, who nodded his head.

Jack was now wearing an astronaut gear. After he climbed down the stairs, he put on his helmet before looking back at his friends.

"Bring me back a souvenir." Raf said.

"So what happens when you have to go to the bathroom?" Miko asked.

"Safe journey, son." Silas said.

"Just go already. Megatron needs you." June begged.

Jack took a couple of steps back before saluting them. Silas saluted him while his friends waved goodbye and his mom kissed him before he walked through the ground bridge. Jack arrived to the space bridge where all the Decepticons were waiting for him.

"Locking onto Cybertron." Soundwave informed.

"You ready?" Airachnid asked.

Jack pulled out the key to Vector Sigma. "Let's do this."

"I'll leave the space bridge portal open in order to eliminate any communication lag over the great distance and make it easier for you to locate when you're ready to return." Soundwave informed.

"Easier to locate? You're not bridging us straight to the big V?" Jack asked.

"Vector Sigma's true location is shrouded in myth and rumor, Jack. It is said the path of the Primes leads there." Shockwave explained.

"We must be confident that Megatron will guide you." Starscream said.

"Don't worry; space bridging is just like ground bridging." Airachnid reassured.

Soundwave pressed a button and opened the space bridge. The force of it actually pulling them in slightly.

"Just a little more intense." Knock Out said over the sound.

Jack and Airachnid walked to the portal, which opened in the middle of the ruins of an ancient city of Cybertron. Jack looked around in awe as he saw Cybertron for the first time as he continued walking with Airachnid.

"I…I can't believe it. I'm actually on another planet! Airachnid, this is incredible!" Jack said, but he earned no response from her partner. "Airachnid?"

She had a sad expression on her face. "This isn't how I wanted you to see my home." She said sadly.

"I'm sorry." Jack apologized.

"In the fog of war it's hard to see beyond the next leg of the mission, or the next punch in the fight. We did everything to save Cybertron, but when the fog finally lifted, there wasn't much to save." Airachnid mourned.

"Airachnid, Jack, do you copy?" Starscream asked through the com-link.

"Roger, we're on Cybertron." Jack confirmed which was heard inside base.

"Whoo-hoo!" Miko shouted as she gave Raf a high-five.

"Yes!" Silas smiled.

"Oh, thank goodness." June sighed with relief.

In the space bridge, the Decepticons were glad too that they made it.

"Just kept the sightseeing to a minimum, huh?" Knock Out reminded.

"Indeed, we don't know if your journey ahead is 5 clicks or 5000." Starscream agreed through the com-link.

"Understood, we're out." Airachnid told them before she ended the conversation.

"Okay, Starscream said the card would guide us. But I don't see how or what I'm supposed to…" Jack said until the key card began to glow.

So Jack began to move the key to where it was glowing the strongest. He stopped as the key glowed as it was pointing in a direction of an archway.

"There you go." Airachnid simply said before she transformed into her alt mode. Jack climbed inside her before Airachnid began to follow the direction of the key card.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team waited in the space bridge.

"This could be a while." Knock Out remarked.

"Space bridge control, do you read me? Space bridge control, this is Bulkhead. Your status report is overdue." Bulkhead said through the com-link.

"Scrap!" Breakdown cursed before he was going to answer.

"Breakdown, no! He'll recognize your voice!" Knock Out warned.

"Well I can make it lower, higher." Breakdown suggested.

"He would recognize mine, as well." Knock Out said.

"We have voices features, so he'll recognize us too." Shockwave said referring to Soundwave, Starscream and himself.

They all looked at Stinger who shook his head.

"Come in, space bridge control! Don't make me come down there and dent some engine blocks!" Bulkhead threatened.

"Somebody said something, now!" Silas said through the com-link.

"Rafael, patch in agent Silas." Starscream instructed.

With that suggestion, Silas became nervous.

"You have one nano-second to respond before…" Bulkhead began.

"This is space bridge control, situation normal." Silas said through the com-link.

"Normal, you sure about that?" Bulkhead asked.

"We were just…calibrating the sub-systems and we, huh, had a surge, but its fine now. How are you?" Silas said, making everyone drop their mouths.

"Uh, never better. I know it's thankless down there. Keep up the good work." Bulkhead answered, causing everyone to sigh with relief.

"Will do, control out." Silas said before ending the com-link and sighed in relief.

Inside the Ark, Megatronus continued to research by himself, trying to find more clues about Megatron.

"Why would the Autobot archives be so heavily encrypted?" Megatronus asked aloud. "Fortunately Optimus showed me some tricks in the old days."

Megatronus typed onto the console revealing the picture of Megatron. He typed another command, causing the picture to change and reform, as he paid all the attention. But when the picture was almost done, he widened his optics in shock.

"How could I possibly be, Lord Megatron? Wait, there is something more." Megatronus said as he observed something in his own file, one that made him be more in shock.

Unfortunately, Blaster showed the picture to Optimus Prime.

"Even our encryptions couldn't keep him from the truth. Megatronus has much to accomplish, and he will stay the costs. Even if I must inflict great pain to ensure the completion of Project Iacon." Optimus said sinisterly.

Meanwhile on Cybertron, Jack and Airachnid's search continued.

"That way." Jack told her as she flew in the direction she was told.

"Toward Kaon?" She questioned in surprise.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

"For all the places of Cybertron, Kaon was the safest place for Decepticons, since it was our capital." She explained.

"Good." Jack remarked.

Airachnid landed just in front of the bridge which leads to Kaon.

"We're on foot from here." She said.

Jack got off of Airachnid before she transformed into her robot form.

"Don't want engine noise to attract the wrong kind of attention." She said activating her spider legs.

"Bots?" Jack asked.

"Vermin." Airachnid sneered.

Jack pulled out the key card and pointed it towards Kaon. "This way."

The two made their way to inside the capital. But they didn't notice that Cybertron wasn't as dead as they believed, because right beneath Kaon, something noticed them and began to follow them. Something big, purple and fierce.

To be continued…


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty Nine- The Key of Vector Sigma**

On Cybertron, Jack and Airachnid continued walking through the streets of Kaon when the key card glowed more frequently.

"We must be close." Jack observed.

They entered an arena with a statue of Megatron at the entrance. When they got to the center of the arena, suddenly the ground began to shake and crack as the key glowed intensely. Then a structure emerged from the ground. Jack walked over to the entrance causing it to glow a little before it opened by itself.

"Vector Sigma's down here?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Kaon didn't always belong to the Decepticons. Megatron took it as our capital. Apparently without ever realizing what laid beneath our feet." Airachnid explained

Suddenly they heard a crumbling noise as they looked up to see an enormous cybertronian creature: it had a long body, with some insect legs and other legs more large that acted as a tail, but the most terrible thing was its big insect mouth. The creature jumped down to attack, but Airachnid grabbed Jack and jumped out of the way. Airachnid began to fire at the creature before it tackled her against the wall, because it recognized her emblem.

"Airachnid!" Jack cried.

The creature looked back to see the key card glowing in Jack's hand. It ran over to attack him, but Airachnid shot some webs on the creature's optics, getting its attention again.

"We're being attacked by some kind of giant cybertronian large bug." Jack told the team through the com-link.

"A corrupted worm." Shockwave realized.

"A what?" June exclaimed.

"It comes from space slugs, part of Cybertron's natural defenses. But when the core was poisoned, the pollution caused one of them to mutate and acted wildly. I never thought that could be another one alive." Shockwave described the creature, ( **the boss from the antepenultimate mission of War for Cybertron** ).

Airachnid began firing from higher ground before the creature fired at her a big purple projectile from its mouth, but she evaded and transformed trying to fly away as the creature began chasing her. She slid underneath the creature and continued shooting it.

"Jack, go!" She yelled.

"Seriously?!" Jack said.

"Without Airachnid? She's his guide!" June retorted.

"No, nurse Darby. Airachnid is Jack's backup. The key card is his guide." Starscream corrected.

Airachnid managed to push back the creature with her fire. "Do it!"

"Listen to me, Jack. You've made it this far. Megatron is counting on you." June told him though the com-link.

"Roger that, mom." Jack said before getting inside the tunnel.

The doors began to close as Jack saw Airachnid get tackled by the creature. After that, he began walking inside. Meanwhile, inside the Ark…

"Megatronus, have you made progress with Project Iacon?" Optimus asked as he walked in.

"It seems I'm a bit rustier than I thought." Megatronus lied.

"Might that have anything to do with the nature of your afterhours research? Did I fail to mention that we would be tracking your activities?" Optimus said as he pressed a button, revealing the data that Megatronus uncovered.

"Why does history portray me siding with the Decepticon aggressors? And why did Grimlock call me Megatron? And why did you hide me the fact that you named now Optimus Prime?! I must know, who am I?" Megatronus demanded.

"You are my servant. Now get back to work and help me decode the database." Optimus ordered.

Megatronus doubt about his old friend's acting.

"No, I would rather erase my findings than make them available for your questionable use." Megatronus said before he pressed a button, erasing all the data.

He walked towards the exit, but then Optimus began laughing and pressed another button, revealing that the data was not erased, putting Megatronus in shock.

"Did you really think that we wouldn't be tracking and documenting every iota of your invaluable research?" Optimus smirked.

Then Blaster entered the room and revealed a map of Cybertron with a strong signal emitting from one region.

"You have detected movement, on Cybertron?" Optimus asked.

"You told me our planet was dead." Megatronus recalled.

"That is beside the point, guards!" Optimus called out, making to heavy soldiers entered the room as he walked up to Megatronus changing one of his hands into a blade. "You will finish Project Iacon by the time I return, or I will carve out your spark before your very eyes!" Optimus threatened placing the blade near Megatronus's throat.

Back on Kaon, Airachnid continued to fire at the creature before it tried to smash her. She jumped at the last second before kicking it in the face and landing behind it. The creature attacked her with its hind legs, but she jumped and climbed at the top of the pillar first. She continued firing, but then the creature began to create purple energy coming from inside its mouth and shot a beam of energy at her. That let Airachnid fell to the ground unconscious as the beast ripped the door of Vector Sigma and entered inside the tunnel. Meanwhile, Jack walked through the tunnel, using the key as a light source. However, he passed a scraplet, which followed him attracted by the light. The noise of the scraplet scurrying by put Jack on alert. He saw a large rod sticking out which pulled out to use as a weapon, but he didn't know that were a lot of scraplets following him. Meanwhile, on the Ark, Blaster showed Optimus what he detected.

"The activity log indicates our space bride was set for Cybertron. And remains open." Ratchet observed.

"The only possible reason the Decepticons would take such a risk, would be to restore their precious Megatron." Optimus deduced.

In that moment, Jack arrived to a dead end. Then the key glow intensely again, making the wall glowed in response and opened. It revealed a chamber that has a bridge connecting to a circular platform in the middle of the chamber.

"Hey everyone, I'm in." Jack reported through the com-link.

"Sweet." Miko cheered as Silas observed that June was relieved.

Jack crossed the bridge and walked to the center of the platform. The floor glowed like the key, so Jack put it on the floor. Then the key transformed to the bigger version that Megatron give to him, so Jack stepped back as the area began to glow. Jack yelped in surprise as the ground before he began to move. He jumped off as the platform under him rose up and stood high and tall. He saw too a glowing sphere appear in the air as the key card began to download the matrix.

"This is…wow. Commencing download. I think." Jack informed through the com-link.

"Soon, my liege." Starscream said.

Meanwhile, Megatronus was forced to work as the two Autobot heavy soldiers watch him, but he refused to work.

"No one told you to stop, gladiator." One of them said as they pulled out their weapons.

"I believe Optimus intends to use whatever he finds in Project Iacon to harm the Decepticons. Please, we can warn them." Megatronus tried to reason.

But the guards punched him on the torso, making him collapsed on the ground. He looked them in shock as they aimed their weapons at him. Meanwhile, the key was still receiving the power of the Primes.

"This is taking a while." Jack said, impatiently.

"Of course it is. We are talking about the collective wisdom of the Primes." Shockwave replied.

Silently, a lot of scraplets entered the room, and when they saw Vector Sigma, they opened their mouths and flew directly to it. Jack saw then coming, so he tried to smash all he could, but they were too many so they passed him.

"What is it, Jack?" Starscream asked.

"Scraplets!" Jack answered.

"What's a scraplet?" June asked.

"Why did it have to be scraplets?" Breakdown demanded.

"If they chew through Vector Sigma before the matrix is fully restored…" Shockwave began.

"I knew it; Vector Sigma is more than legend." A voice said behind them.

They all saw Optimus Prime emerging from a ground bridge.

"You Decepticons have gone to impressive lengths to recover your leader. Be assure, I'll shall never underestimate you again. Now, I assume the one called Airachnid will be stepping through that portal, with the reloaded Matrix of Leadership in hand." Optimus said walking towards them.

"We hold the space bridge at all cost." Starscream declared as all the Decepticons activated their weapons and fired at Optimus.

Optimus charged and punched Shockwave in the gut, sending him flying. After evading some missiles launched by him, Starscream attempted to attack, but Optimus grabbed him and threw off of the platform. Stinger and Knock Out continued firing at Optimus, until he grabbed them and threw them as well. Soundwave landed on him and tried to use his tentacles as drills, but Optimus managed to grab him and threw him too.

"You're going down, Big O." Breakdown declared tackling him from behind and off of the platform, but Optimus recovered quickly and smashed his head.

Airachnid gasped as she woke up. She slowly sat up as she heard a chipping noise. She looked down at her foot to see a scraplet chewing at it, so she shot at the scraplet, kill it.

"Jack?" She called out looking around.

She widened her optics as she saw the door of Vector Sigma ripped out. She changed into her alt mode and flew inside the tunnel. Meanwhile, Jack was trying to keep the scraplets out of Vector Sigma, but they were too many and then the noise emitting for Vector Sigma slow down as the scraplets continued to eat from it.

"No, no, no, no, no, don't quit now!" Jack begged.

Then he heard a noise coming from the entrance.

"Airachnid." Jack smiled with relief.

But it was not Airachnid. It was the corrupted worm which appeared in front of Jack.

"Back off, bug!" Jack yelled as he held his rod.

Suddenly the creature stopped advancing as it noticed the scraplets on Vector Sigma. Jack looked at the scraplets, then back to the creature before smirking as he grabbed one of them.

"Hey guys, the main course!" Jack said throwing the scraplet at the creature.

The other scraplets noticed and flew towards the creature. The corrupted worm roared in pain as it was being eating alive. The scraplets practically disassembled it as it fell off the walkway and to certain death below with the scraplets following it. Jack looked to see that the key was fully reloaded before the sphere disappeared and the key returned to his smaller version. After grabbing it he went to the exit, and he meet with Airachnid in the way.

"I have the matrix." Jack said showing the key fully charged.

"Let's rise up." Airachnid smiled.

At the same time, Optimus finished Breakdown by grabbing his hammer and launching him against a boulder. Once he saw the entire Decepticons unconscious, he turned to the space bridge, still opened. Now he only needs to wait for the last Decepticon to return. Inside the Ark, the two Autobots were still kicking Megatronus.

"You have to admit, it's a privilege to stomp the former leader of the Decepticons." One of the soldiers said.

Megatronus looked at them in shock before they began to beat him again.

"No, please, stop, enough! Don't force me to defend myself! I warn you!" Megatronus raised his voice as he activated his sword, but his fusion cannon too, causing the two guards to look at him in shock. "I have no idea that I had a fusion cannon."

The two guards pulled out their heavy blasters and fired, but Megatronus fired rapidly before looking over to see them dead. Meanwhile, Airachnid and Jack went directly to the same portal to return back home.

"We're almost there." Jack observed.

"Starscream, we have the matrix. We're coming through." Airachnid informed.

They arrived to the space bridge portal, but no one responded.

"Starscream?" She asked. "Something is wrong." She said as she and Jack remained in front of the portal, not knowing that on the other side was Optimus, waiting for them.

"We can't not go through, can we?" Jack asked as Airachnid looked at the vortex with suspicion.

On the other side, Optimus prepared his blade.

"Come Airachnid, so that I may control the lineage of the Primes for all time." Optimus smirked.

"I cannot allow that to happen, Optimus." Megatronus declared as he walked through the portal, surprising him.

"And why should you care, Megatronus? You are no Prime. Not like me." Optimus remembered.

"That may be true, or yet another deception, but this much I do know: my sympathies lie with the Decepticons, and you are not one of us." Megatronus declared as he activated his sword.

Megatronus let out a battle cry as he attacked Optimus, but he blocked his attack before punching him in the gut, causing him to collapse on the floor.

"You spark may be in the right place, Megatronus." Optimus said before hitting him in the back of his head. "But you have much to learn before you can hope to ever again stand your ground against me. A moment sadly, which will never come." Optimus said as he raised his blade to execute Megatronus.

But before Optimus could strike down, Airachnid appeared from the space bridge and tackled him from behind, sending him flying. Megatronus looked back to see Jack coming from the space bridge. He widened his eyes in shock as he saw Jack hold the key card.

"Are you certain I am worthy?" Megatronus asked with hesitation.

"You have no idea." Jack responded as he aimed the key card at Megatronus's chest.

A stream of blue light came from the key card and entered Megatronus's chest, in the same moment Starscream regain conscious. Airachnid kept firing at Optimus with lasers, acid and webs, but he grabbed her and slammed her against a support pillar.

"How nice of you to join our little reunion. Now if you please, the matrix." Optimus demanded.

Optimus looked back to see the key inserting something inside Megatronus and widened his eyes. He threw Airachnid to the floor and ran towards Megatronus. Starscream tried to intercept him, but Optimus pushed him out of the way, as the key finished downloading the matrix and floated into the air before Megatronus grabbed it.

"NO!" Optimus yelled striking with his sword.

Fortunately, Megatronus grabbed the sword with both hands.

"Optimus, be gone!" Megatron declared before he started punching Prime a lot of times.

Meanwhile the Decepticons recovered, Megatron continued punching Optimus until he delivered a powerful uppercut to send him flying into a support pillar.

"Shockwave, how we did arrive here?" Megatron asked as he and all the Decepticons activated their weapons.

"Long story, old friend." Shockwave answered.

"Base to Airachnid, we're reading seven Decepticon life signals down there. Is Megatron with you?" Silas asked through the com-link.

"And Jack." Airachnid added.

"Yes!" Miko cheered.

June just sighed with relief, knowing that her son was alright. Optimus growled as he got up and the Decepticons fired at him. Airachnid looked over to see the ground bridge open next to them.

"It's ours!" She said.

"Decepticons, fall back!" Megatron instructed.

Jack slightly yelped as he felt Airachnid grab him before she jumped through the portal, followed by the other Decepticons.

"This time, he's coming with us!" Knock Out declared before he, Stinger and Breakdown jumped through.

Megatron and Optimus continued firing at each other before Megatron jumped through the ground bridge. Optimus stopped as the portal closed, and the only thing he did was roar in anger so loud that was heard throughout the cave. Inside the base, everyone waited for the team to return. The first ones were Airachnid and Jack, who took his helmet off.

"Jack!" June cried before running up to her son and hugging him.

The rest of the Decepticons came through each of them greeting with their human partners. Then everyone looked back to see Megatron walk through the portal before it closed.

"Megatron?" Raf asked.

"Hello, Rafael." Megatron greeted with a smile.

Whoa." Raf breathed with relief.

"The big guy remembers us! Whoohoo!" Miko cheered.

"Although it seems there is much I do not remember." Megatron said over to his Autobot emblem.

"Lord Megatron, it has truly been our darkest hour, but know this. From every indication, your spark never cease being that off a Decepticon." Starscream remarked as everyone came closer to welcome back home their leader.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty- Stolen**

Optimus drove in his alt mode until he reached to a mining area with many guards as he met with Bumblebee. What he didn't know is that Megatron and Starscream were watching from a distance.

"Optimus Prime?" Starscream said surprised.

"It seems Soundwave detected the ancient Autobot frequency because it was unearthed." Megatron remarked.

"Well, our backup shouldn't be far behind." Starscream informed.

"Without knowing what the Autobots have exhumed, I do not think I am willing to wait." Megatron declared as he activated his fusion cannon as he advanced.

The miners continued their job until they hit something.

"Sir, we found something." One of the miners informed.

"Show me." Bumblebee ordered.

The miners picked up a cybertronian container from the hole they excavated.

"Bring it to me, with utmost care." Optimus ordered.

When the miner brought the container to Optimus, he opened it and was going to grab what was inside.

"Optimus, I cannot allow you to pilfer Decepticon relics!" Megatron declared as he and Starscream aimed their weapons at Optimus, while the Autobot troopers aimed their blasters at him.

"Not only are you misinformed, Megatron. But I would strongly advise you to lower your weapons, unless you're in the mood for mutually assured destruction." Optimus warned as he pulled out a circular shaped weapon.

"It can't be!" Starscream gasped.

"The spark extractor." Megatron recognized.

"Rather unassuming, yet capable of extracting every spark within its radius." Bee explained.

"And to think that you led me straight to it, Megatron. Or should I say Megatronus did. You really should have left your Autobot symbols intact. For you have no idea how useful your code-breaking skills proved to be during our all-too-brief time together." Optimus said.

"Blaster, send a ground bridge." Bee requested through the com-link.

Immediately, a ground bridge appeared above them.

"Engage them!" Optimus ordered while he and Bumblebee walked towards the ground bridge.

The Autobot troopers began to fire, but Megatron and Starcsream managed to keep them on the line. At another dig site, a group of Autobots heard the skirmish on the other side, and before they could react Stinger drove past them, evading all their shots. He arrived to where the others were.

"Stinger, secure the package!" Megatron instructed.

Stinger followed Optimus and Bumblebee through the ground bridge. Inside it, he looped around the vortex's tunnel and transformed, grabbing the spark extractor out of Optimus hand.

What?!" Optimus exclaimed.

"You!" Bee said in anger.

"Bumblebee, recover the artifact!" Optimus ordered.

Bumblebee tried to grab the artifact, but Stinger kicked him in the face, knocking him out. So Optimus changed his hand to a sword as Stinger transformed and drove under Optimus, who tried to slice him, and headed towards the exit.

"No!" Optimus cried as he and Bumblebee ran after him.

Stinger escaped from the tunnel and reached the ground long before they jumped out of the ground bridge. The two Autobots aimed their blasters, only to find all the other Autobots dead, making Optimus growled in anger. Moments later, inside base, Stinger explained to the kids what happened and demonstrated by using Raf's toy car.

"( **Then I sneaked behind Optimus and Bee, grabbed the artifact and get out like a ship jumping to light speed!** )" Stinger explained moving the car.

"Loop-de-loop, huh?" Airachnid smirked.

"( **As a scout, it is my duty to pass enemy lines, whatever is the goal.** )" Stinger said after he returned the toy car to Raf.

"You have some brass bearing, Stinger." Knock Out remarked.

"Lord Megatron. Here, the source of the ancient frequency we detected." Soundwave informed.

"An Iacon homing beacon." Megatron answered.

"What's an Autobot locator doing on that?" Airachnid asked.

"The class A Autobot weapons created during the war were sealed within the vaults below Iacon." Megatron explained.

"Where Optimus once worked as an archivist." Starscream said.

"Iacon was both a cultural center and a stronghold, which I raided when Autobot troops were at their nadir. It stands to reason that in anticipation of Iacon being overrun by enemy forces, these weapons were jettisoned off world to keep them far from our reach." Megatron explained.

"Clearly the beacon was added as a safety measure. Should the weapons were be found by the undesired party." Shockwave added.

"Thanks to our hot shot stud driver, this one's going in our vault!" Breakdown declared.

"Do you think this is the only Intel you've supplied to Optimus?" Knock Out asked.

"Knock Out, you are right to ask, and I am afraid I do not remember." Megatron answered.

"Lord Megatron, Optimus clearly took advantage over your amnesia, but for all we know this spark extractor is the extent of it. Have you stopped to consider that it may it suggested than otherwise merely to plague your thoughts?" Starscream asked.

Meanwhile, inside the Ark, Optimus slammed his fist onto the console in frustration.

"The spark extractor was in my grasp!" Optimus yelled in rage.

"I should have removed more than Stinger's voice box when I had the chance!" Bee said angered.

"Don't take that to yourself so hard, my dear. We still had a chance." Elita said entering with Blaster showing two more coordinates.

"Indeed, Elita. We possess two more sets of coordinates, which Megatronus decrypted before departing our ranks. Let us see what other long treasures we may be reunited with." Optimus smirked.

Sometime later, Stinger was driving across the desert when he detected something.

"( **Breakdown, I picked up a signal near my location.** )" Stinger informed.

"Yeah, I've picked up the same signal. Could be another homing beacon. Let's rendezvous at the coordinates." Breakdown said through his com-link.

Stinger drove off of the road and transformed into his robot form. He walked over to an open area and found a strange looking device sticking out of the ground. He ran over to it and inspected it waiting for something to happen, but suddenly he was hit by a streak of lighting, which made him collapsed onto the ground and lost consciousness. Then Thundertron and his Star Seekers came out from their hiding place and approached him.

"Captain, one is heading towards our position. It would be here in two minutes." Sandstorm reported.

"Work briskly." Thundertron instructed.

Cannonball turned his hand into a scalpel and began to carve in Stinger's leg. Meanwhile, a cybertronian T-Rex walked over and transformed onto a higher ground, revealing to be Grimlock. He walked to the edge and looked down to see the situation.

"It would appear the signal was a trap. Better Stinger than me." Grimlock remarked.

As Cannonball continued working, Sandstorm zoomed his optics to inspect the area. He saw Breakdown driving towards them.

"Sir, the backup is ahead of schedule." Sandstorm informed.

"As luck would have it, so I." Cannonball replied as he pulled out a strange metallic thing.

"Let's return." Thundertron ordered.

The Star Seekers transformed into their alt modes and flew, leaving the area the same as Grimlock. Before Stinger went back online, everyone disappeared, and he only saw Breakdown coming at him before transforming.

"Sting! Who did this?! Bots?!" Breakdown demanded.

"( **I don't know.** )" Stinger answered.

"One way to find out, come on!" Breakdown yelled as he transformed with Stinger following him.

Stinger tried to transform to, but for some reason, it wasn't working. Breakdown drove back and transformed before walking over to Stinger.

"We rising or not?!" Breakdown demanded.

"( **I can't.** )" Stinger answered.

"What do you mean you can't?!" Breakdown demanded.

Stinger just looked at him worried. At that night, everyone tried to find out what happened to Stinger inside base. Knock Out ran a scan over Stinger while everyone waited patiently to hear the results.

"You can fix Sting, can't you?" Raf asked.

"Stinger was hit pretty hard. The stun blast may have fried his T-Cog." Knock Out answered.

"Is that like a T-Bone?" Miko asked.

"Not exactly. It's the organ that allow us to scan vehicles and transform." Airachnid corrected.

"By the Allspark!" Knock Out gasped as he finished scanning. "Stinger's T-Cog isn't damaged. It's missing."

That left everyone in shock.

"But the Autobots transform too. Why would they steal that?" Jack asked.

"Optimus Prime may be known to raise zombies, but he's not ghoul." Starscream stated.

"If Optimus wasn't behind this, then who was?" Raf asked.

"The ones who cannibalized Bulkhead." Breakdown remembered.

"And tried to gut me!" Airachnid piped in.

"The Star Seekers. And it would appear their knowledge of cybertronian biotech has grown more sophisticated." Shockwave deduced.

"But why would they want Stinger's part?" Raf asked.

"( **This is not going to stop me. I'll continue to fight in the field.** )" Stinger said getting up.

"Stinger, please, you are not presently equipped to handle this." Megatron said, putting a hand on Stinger's shoulder.

"( **But my liege, you don't know what it's like to lose something that important. Not like Bee anymore.** )" Stinger explained.

"You're mistaken, my friend. I do know what it's like to lose a vital part of one's self. And as a result, I know the value of putting one's faith in the strength of those around you. We vow to do everything in our power to make you whole again." Megatron retorted.

"And if is not, Knock Out can just make you a new cog thing, right?" Miko suggested.

"( **I'm doomed!** )" Stinger groaned as he sat down the berth and put his hands on his head.

"What'd I say?" Miko asked.

"Miko, a T-Cog is a bio mechanism, not a scrap yard find. If it were that easy, don't you think I would have replaced Stinger's voice box by now?!" Knock Out snapped.

"( **Thanks for remember that, Knock Out. I'm practically useless.** )" Stinger said.

"You're not useless, Sting." Raf retorted.

"( **Thanks for try to cheer me, Raf.** )" Stinger said looking down.

"Alright. I say none of us transform until Stinger gets his cog back!" Breakdown decreed.

"Your spark is in the right place, Breakdown, but I don't think now is the time to be limiting ourselves." Starscream said.

"Not with Optimus potentially seeking other doomsday devices. And I fear, not while Thundertron uses Stinger's T-Cog for his own sinister purpose." Megatron explained.

Meanwhile, inside an unknown place, a couple of Star Seeker troopers placed Stinger's T-Cog inside an incomplete artificial robot.

"Commence beta test." Thundertron ordered from high ground.

Brimstone typed some commands on the console, making the robot's hand to move by itself as it started glowing.

"Installation complete. Commencing scan." Brimstone reported.

The robot scanned a helicopter, causing the scan to be received onto the computer.

"Scan successful. Commencing transformation." Brimstone reported.

They waited for the robot to transform, but nothing happened. Thundertron looked at Brimstone in irritation as he tried again to make it work.

"Well, what's taken it so long?" Axer asked in confusion.

"Why isn't happening anything?!" Thundertron yelled impatiently.

Then the robot turned off.

"I don't know. This is the human's procedure in making robots. I don't understand what is wrong." Brimstone said.

Suddenly they all heard a mocking laugh coming from outside. They looked behind to see Grimlock opening the large door and walking inside the warehouse.

"You are the ones who turned poor Bulkhead into a pitiful science experiment?! Didn't learn much from the experience, did you?" Grimlock asked.

Then a lot of laser points aimed at him, coming from a lot of Star Seeker troopers, flyers, snipers, tanks and heavy soldiers.

"Enough to know where the soft spots are, Dinobot." Sandstorm answered, as Thundertron smirked.

"Oh please, I am no longer affiliated with the Autobots. Besides, if I were here to avenge the big lug, you would be already dead by now." Grimlock smirked.

"Why are you here?" Thundertron asked.

"To propose an alliance. You see, we have much more in common that you might think. And I am not merely referring to our battle scars." Grimlock answered.

"What could I possibly gain from such an arrangement?" Thundertron asked.

"Inside knowledge." Grimlock answered.

"Ha, forget it. Not even if we weren't in our right mind we'll ally with you." Axer said, charging his weapon.

But before anyone could fire, Thundertron raised his hand, signaling his troopers to lower their weapons. They did it, causing Grimlock to smirk.

"Wise choice." Grimlock said.

"But captain, this is a bad idea." Axer rejected.

"I know what can be useful to us, and secure." Thundertron answered.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Brimstone said.

"Now, a T-Cog isn't technology. It is biology. Which means it will reject any power source other than one." Grimlock explained.

"Which one?" Cannonball asked.

"Did you get your neuro nets malfunction or have you forgotten what our common life force is?" Grimlock asked in disbelief.

"Go on." Thundertron said as Grimlock walked up to the robot.

"Energon is the fuel, the ammunition and the lifeblood of all cybertronians. Whatever their affiliation. You and I both want it. And currently, I lack the means of locating it. But once I supply with the…" Grimlock winced as he scratched himself, staining his finger with energon. "Particulars of its chemical makeup."

Grimlock put the energon in the artificial robot, causing it to glow and function properly.

"We can utilize your considerable resources to devise the means of detecting new deposits for us to share." Grimlock finished.

"If the supply meets our rather significant demand." Thundertron retorted.

"Ah, intending to build an army, are you? I am no stranger to ambition." Grimlock realized.

Stinger was inside base while the others were outside looking for his partner's T-Cog.

"( **Hey guys, any news about my piece?** )" Stinger asked as he walked over to Soundwave and Shockwave.

"Lord Megatron, Starscream and Breakdown haven't reported in yet." Soundwave informed.

"( **But you will let me know if something comes up, right?** )" Stinger asked.

"Affirmative, I will let you know the moment I hear something." Soundwave said a little irritated.

"( **Guys, you have something now? Please, please, please.** )" Stinger said tapping Soundwave's shoulder.

"For Primus sake. Will someone keep him occupied so we can get some work done?!" Shockwave asked irritated.

"Hey Sting, how about a video game?" Raf proposed from the coach.

"( **Okay.** )" Stinger answered.

Stinger walked to see what they were playing, and he saw them playing a race game.

"( **A race game? Why not a first-shooting game, like Halo?** )" Stinger said a little mad.

"Uh, bad call." Miko remarked.

"Sorry." Raf apologized.

"Hey, no big deal, that game is lame. What did you say we watch some TV?" Miko proposed.

"( **Yeah, that's better.** )" Stinger said cheered.

But when they turned on the TV, a car commercial appeared.

"The new Urbana 500. It won't just rock your world. It'll transform it." The commercial said.

Everyone remained quiet and annoyed for the scene.

"( **THEY DO NOT STOP SCRUBBING ME!** )" Stinger yelled putting his hands on his head.

"I don't know if taking the auto out of an Autobot is so not a good thing, but maybe it can happen on Decepticons." Miko remarked.

"Sting, come on. You're just amazing without wheels. I mean, speed isn't everything." Raf said.

That made Stinger feel better, but then Airachnid came inside flying at high speed before she landed.

"Personal best, Airachnid! You hit 120 easy!" Jack said getting out of her.

That made Stinger furious because he glared at them with angry eyes.

"Uh oh." Jack and Airachnid said in unison.

"( **I need a break.** )" Stinger said walking towards the exit, getting someone's attention.

"Stinger! Where do you think you're going?!" Knock Out asked.

"( **I'm going for a walk.** )" Stinger answered.

"You can't just go out for a walk!" Knock Out exclaimed putting a hand on his shoulder. "We are robots in disguise! Leaving the base in this form puts you at risk of being seen! And us of being discovered! You just have to remain in the silo until…"

"( **Till you fix me! I get it! Just like you did with my voice!** )" Stinger cut off before left the hall.

"Yes Stinger. Until I can fix you." Knock Out said.

At the next day, Raf waited when the class was over at the front of the school for his ride to come and pick him up. He suddenly heard a honking noise and looked over to see Knock Out in his alt mode.

"There you go." Knock Out said when Raf went inside him.

"Thanks for the lift home, friend of Jack's mom." Raf said loudly as they drove out of the parking lot.

"Where are the others?" Knock Out asked.

"Jack's at work and Miko's in detention, again. I was expecting Breakdown." Raf said.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but he's on watch duty." Knock Out answered. "You want to ride with some music?"

"No, thank you." Raf answered.

Inside base, Breakdown was watching the computers when the alarm sounded.

"( **Another one?** )" Stinger asked arriving.

"This could be it. I'll alert the others." Breakdown said.

"( **We can handle it ourselves.** )" Stinger suggested.

"I know you and I can handle it, Sting, but there is no reason…What are you trying to prove?" Breakdown asked.

"( **That I'm still good as any Decepticon.** )" Stinger answered.

Breakdown only groaned in defeat. At the same moment, Knock Out kept driving towards the base inside Jasper.

"Knock Out, what happened to Stinger's voice box?" Raf asked.

"It was…severely damaged in battle." Knock Out answered.

"How?" Raf asked.

"How do you think? Tragically, of course. It happened at Tyger Pax. Our brave scout was captured by falling into a trap made by the Autobot scout Bumblebee with intentions of interrogate him, but he refuse to provide Intel and both started a brutal fight, which resulted in tie, but both paid a grave price. Stinger was left for scrap. But Decepticon troopers found him and evacuated him to a triage facility where a field medic managed to stabilize his condition." Knock Out told.

"So we owe Stinger's life to that field medic." Raf assumed.

"That's one way of looking at it I suppose. Though the medic…could've done better." Knock Out finished.

Inside a forest, a ground bridge appeared and Breakdown and Stinger came from it.

"Clear. I still don't know how you talked me into this. You're worse than Miko." Breakdown said.

"( **Unlike her I know how to fight.** )" Stinger answered.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know." Breakdown said.

"( **I can handle myself.** )" Stinger added.

"Not every mission ends in a high-speed pursuit. But without your…" Breakdown began.

"( **I though we've dropped it.** )" Stinger said annoyed.

"Fine, I'll drop it. But if Megatron finds out, this was not my idea." Breakdown reminded.

"( **Fine, I got it.** )" Stinger remarked.

Breakdown began to search with his scanner.

"Signal's coming from over there." Breakdown saw as the scanner located the signal inside a tunnel. "And it's coming our way! Fast!"

Then Smokescreen drove out of the tunnel and passed near them.

"Catch me if you can!" Smokescreen mocked.

"I'll get him." Breakdown said.

"You are not forgetting someone?" Wheeljack said coming out of the tunnel.

He tried to kick Breakdown, but he grabbed him and threw him against a tree. They heard footsteps as they saw Bulkhead running out of the tunnel while he activated his wrecking ball.

"Okay, you get him!" Breakdown decided.

"( **Understood.** )" Stinger answered as he ran after Smokescreen while Breakdown pulled out his hammer to fight against his rival.

Stinger tried to catch up Smokescreen, but he drove faster.

"Sporting of you." Smokescreen remarked watching through the side-view mirror.

Stinger stopped and tried to fire his weapons, but it didn't work.

"( **Don't tell me I can't shot too!** )" Stinger cursed.

"You're not even going to try and shot out my tires?" Smokescreen asked in confusion before stopping. "Stinger, where's your famous horsepower which Bumblebee tries to compete, huh? Please, show me some speed!"

That made Stinger more furious, so he tried to reach Smokescreen, but when he was close the Autobot droves away again. Then Stinger saw an old car next to him, so he grabbed it and put it on the road, jumping on it to continue the pursuit.

"What is with the rent-a-car?!" Smokescreen joked with laugh.

Then the car started to went out of control when one of the wheels pop out and fly away. Now he was getting nervous.

"I'd stick around and do some doughnuts around you, but I have a delivery to make." Smokescreen said, revealing that he had the relic in his back seat.

Smokescreen turned a sharp corner by a cliff before driving off. Stinger tried to do the same, but the car flew off of the cliff along with him.

"( **NO!** )" Stinger yelled as he was falling.

To be continued…


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty One- Recovered**

Inside the Decepticon base, Stinger was on a medical berth unconscious with Raf next to him, waiting for when he wakes.

"Of all the scrapping ideas, taking Stinger into a potential chase scenario when he no longer has the ability to access his wheels?!" Starscream yelled at Breakdown.

"He improvised." Breakdown answered.

"Hey, Sting's waking up!" Raf exclaimed as Stinger sat up on the berth.

"( **Oh, my head is buzzing.** )" Stinger groaned as he rubbed his helmet.

"You've already lost your voice box and your T-Cog! Were you trying to add your spark to the list?!" Starscream demanded.

"( **I'm useless.** )" Stinger said depressed.

"Don't say that, Stinger. You're not useless." Raf said.

"Look, I hate to break up the pity party, but the Bots just added an unknown Iacon payday number two to their armory." Airachnid reminded.

"Neither blame or praise will modify past events. But we cannot afford to take unnecessary risks. Stinger, you are not to leave our base. Not until we can retrieve your missing bio mechanism." Megatron declared before he walked away, leaving Stinger sad.

Shockwave walked away following Megatron.

"Stinger's right to be less than hopeful, but you and I both there exists a way to make him whole again." Shockwave said.

"A transplant, but that would require a donor." Megatron concluded.

"You need look no further than the Decepticon standing before you." Shockwave declared, causing Megatron to look at him with surprise.

"A generous offer, old friend, but your solution would merely trade one Decepticon's handicap for another's." Megatron objected.

"I don't rely upon my T-Cog, not like Stinger does. The ability to transform is virtually wasted on me. This is where I spend my days. Where my thoughts and hands are a value, not my weapons or wheels, and I don't need necessarily my T-Cog to main my cannon. Our team can't afford to be shy even one warrior in the field." Shockwave retorted looking at Stinger.

"You make a compelling case. But know that we will find Stinger's T-Cog." Megatron cheered, but then other one who heard them came approached them.

"Megatron, the Star Seekers are savages. Who knows what damage they may have already inflicted upon it or…Or if I'm able to repair it?" Knock Out added.

"Knock Out, you did everything in your power." Shockwave sighed.

"Ugh, please. Do you think this is simply about my inability to restore Stinger's voice box? I'm sorry, but I will not be able to perform the surgery." Knock Out confessed.

"I understand, leave it to me." Shockwave said before looking at Megatron. "I just want to do what's right for our scout. For the team."

Aboard the Ark, Smokescreen returned with the artifact.

"Ah, excellent work, Smokescreen." Elita complimented as he showed the relic.

"I'm glad to be helpful, Lady Elita One. But what exactly is it?" Smokescreen asked.

Elita only fired her blaster at Smokescreen. While the two troopers jumped out of the way, Smokescreen got startled and a force shield generated from the staff and deflected the blast.

"It's a force field generator." Arcee observed.

"Now you know." Elita declared.

"I think I leaked a little transmission fluid." Smokescreen remarked.

Meanwhile, inside a canyon, the Star Seekers were tracking an energy signal.

"Source located." Brimstone said as he and the other Star Seekers followed him.

"Yes, gratifying isn't it, Thundertron." Grimlock said coming behind him. "I often advise Optimus to seek out some allies. After all it seems to provide the Decepticons an occasional edge, but despite his reputation as a brilliant strategist Optimus is woefully small minded when it comes to working with minds smaller than our own." Grimlock said until Thundertron gives him a look similar to Optimus. "I was simply referring to head size, of humans."

"Do you ever not speak? I believe Dinobots were more about crushing first and asking later." Thundertron said before he followed the trails the others went down.

"Did you know that I personally extinguished an important Decepticon?" Grimlock said, trying to impress the troopers around him, but they simply ignored him and continued walking on.

Inside a dead end of the canyon, there was a large amount of energon crystals.

"Energon. In its purest state." Cannonball observed.

"Ready to be mined." Thundertron said with a smirk.

"And processed, my compatriots. To give us the edge." Grimlock proclaimed.

Back to the Decepticon base, things were getting ready for the T-Cog transplant for Stinger. Right now, Shockwave was talking with Airachnid, Breakdown and Soundwave, all three of them in line.

"Obviously, since Knock Out is unable in this moment and I'm the other patient involved, I will be unable to perform the surgery. Therefore, one of you must serve as my proxy." Shockwave declared.

First he walked next to Breakdown. "Uh-huh, better at breaking things." He said, making Breakdown sighed in relief.

Next he walked to Soundwave. "Sorry Soundwave, but your arms are too thin and rigid." He said, making Soundwave to look at his arms confused.

Finally he stopped next to the last candidate. "Airachnid."

"Starscream has steadier hands." She retorted.

"Steady, and much too sharp to be rooting around beneath my hood. Besides, your extra legs can allow you to use different items." Shockwave reminded, making her sighed in defeat.

"Airachnid, you can do this. You're steely as they come." Jack reassured her.

"On a battlefield or a hunting ground. Not in an operating theatre." She retorted.

"Same thing as long as you're behind the knife, not under it." Jack advised, but she remained worried.

"Does this mean Stinger's gonna transform into a tank from now on and be all logical? Cause that will be weird." Miko remarked.

Moments later, the two patients were lying down on medical berths as Airachnid began the surgery.

"Inducing stasis." Airachnid reported.

"( **Thanks a lot, Shockwave.** )" Stinger said.

"No, you can thank me when it's over." Shockwave said before falling into stasis.

"Okay Stinger, your turn." Airachnid informed.

Suddenly, an alarm sound from the computers.

"What's happening?" Raf asked worried.

"Shockwave's flat lining!" Miko cried.

"Negative." Soundwave informed.

He walked to the computer to see what the alarm was.

"It's an Iacon homing beacon." Soundwave informed.

"If we're picking up the signal that means the Bots just unearthed another relic." Knock Out realized.

"Decepticons, prepare to rise up!" Megatron instructed.

"Yes." Airachnid cheered quietly.

"( **Okay, let's get that relic.** )" Stinger said getting up of the medical berth.

"Except for our patients." Megatron told Stinger, making him sit down sad. "It would be best to interrupt stasis." He said to Airachnid.

The ground bridge transported the team to a mountainous region. Soundwave scanners detected the signal coming from the highest mountain. Moments later, someone called to base.

"Megatron! Breaking news!" Silas informed through the com-link.

"( **Agent Silas. What is it?** )" Stinger asked.

"Huh? Where's Megatron?" Silas asked.

"( **He's in a mission with all the team.** )" Stinger answered, but Silas did not understand him.

"Look. Let him know I just receive access to satellite imagery, which I believe pinpoints the center of operations of those pirates." Silas reported, which made Stinger widened his eyes in shock.

"( **Just sent the coordinates, I will handle it.** )" Stinger asked.

"Oh, for the love of…! Get me someone who speaks other than bleep!" Silas demanded.

"I can help." Raf volunteered.

"What?! Do I hear a Sharkticon in need of emergency repairs?!" Shockwave suddenly yelled.

"What's a Sharkticon?! What's going on over there?!" Silas demanded.

"I can do anything! Just ask Blitzwing! He was all crazy before I put his mind in order!" Shockwave ranted unconsciously before falling back to sleep, making the children laugh a little as Silas looked at the kids in confusion.

"( **I have to get my T-Cog back.** )" Stinger declared.

"But Sting, you heard what Megatron said about leaving the base." Raf retorted.

"( **Don't worry, I'll be careful.** )" Stinger reassured.

"Send the coordinates agent Silas. We'll make sure Megatron gets them." Jack said.

Meanwhile, the other Decepticons managed to get to the top of the mountain in their flying forms, with Breakdown and Knock Out riding over them. When they reached the top, they found the Wreckers, Cliffjumper and Smokescreen near to a bunch of rocks with something buried in. As the Decepticons hid, they saw that Bulkhead was smashing the rocks with his wrecking ball.

"I don't get it. All this chipping away with my wrecking ball…just to bring Optimus a big hammer?" Bulkhead asked in confusion.

"If Prime wants it, he'll have his reason." Cliffjumper said.

"That hammer is a sacred relic of the thirteen original Primes." Megatron corrected.

"Really?!" Breakdown said in surprise.

"Isn't that the opposite of Autobot doomsday device?" Airachnid asked.

"It would stand to reason that in addition of Autobot artillery, any artifacts of great significance stored in the vaults of Iacon would also be shipped off world. And none would be greater than this: the Forge of Solus Prime. For it possess the power to mystical infuse raw material with working mechanisms." Megatron explained.

"As in, if we had it we can pound any weapon we can dream into existence?" Starscream asked.

"Or possibly construct a new T-Cog for Stinger." Knock Out added.

On the coordinates sent by agent Silas there was an abandoned facility, where the Star Seekers were working into their experiment final phase.

"Initiate transfusion." Brimstone instructed working at the computers.

A tank filled with energon began to transfuse it into the artificial cybertronian, making it to move better than before.

"Sir, energy levels are rising. All main systems online." Cannonball informed.

"Yes, it's working! We made it!" Thundertron said triumphal.

"Energon. It will do wonders for our future army." Grimlock said.

"You mean my army, Dinobot." Thundertron said glaring him a menacing look.

"Yes, your future army. In fact, we are mere moments from beholding the miracle of transformation." Grimlock said.

Then they both heard a banging noise coming from behind them. They looked over to see the door destroyed as Stinger walked through it. Stinger looked everywhere to see a lot of Star Seekers troopers aiming their weapons at him, the artificial robot and Grimlock, who made him, widened his eyes.

"No T-Cog, he's unarmed." Grimlock declared.

Grimlock fired one of his nucleon shock cannons, but Stinger managed to evade the shot as he continued to dodge the other shots. Grimlock tried to fire again, but Stinger covered himself with a silo before throwing it at Grimlock. But the Star Seekers continue attacking him. At the same time, Bulkhead destroyed the remaining rocks around the forge.

"Time to get a grip." Wheeljack declared.

But before they could carry it they heard a driving noise coming from behind them. They saw the Decepticons coming, transform and began attacking them. Smokescreen covered himself with the force field generator while Breakdown engaged Bulkhead and Cliffjumper and Soundwave engaged Wheeljack. Just when the other Decepticons could reach them, the shield became a wall which pushed away Airachnid, Megatron, Starscream and Knock Out.

"Decepticons, check out my new metal protector." Smokescreen smirked.

Meanwhile, Stinger was still fighting the Star Seekers punching them and sending them flying, one of them even hit the robot's eye. Just when Brimstone grabbed him in his alt mode to allow Cannonball, Sandstorm and Axer to strike him, he grabbed another silo and sends it rolling at them, knocking them out before he punched Brimstone and threw him at Thundertron. Next he went to grab his T-Cog from the robot, but a shot from Grimlock took him down.

"So close, and yet." Grimlock smirked.

"My location and prototype have been compromised. Destroy the intruder and meet me at the rendezvous point with my T-Cog." Thundertron instructed as he left with the other Star Seekers.

"I am not one of your foot soldiers! I am a consultant!" Grimlock yelled.

"( **Oh my head. What?** )" Stinger said regaining conscious.

The first thing he saw was Grimlock taking his T-Cog and aiming his sword at it.

"One step and your precious bio-mech is scrap." Grimlock threatened.

Meanwhile at base, Shockwave finally woke up.

"Shockwave, how are you feeling?" Jack asked.

"Fine. In fact, I feel as though nothing has changed." Shockwave said checking himself.

"Megatron!" Silas said through the com-link.

"What is it, agent Silas?" Shockwave asked.

"Has Megatron reached the coordinates?" Silas asked.

"Coordinates?" Shockwave asked in confusion.

"Possible pirate Bots location! I sent them a half hour ago!" Silas answered in frustration.

"Don't worry, agent Silas. It's taken care off." Jack reassured him.

"Megatron had to go lock fenders with some Bots." Miko informed him.

"So Stinger went instead." Raf finished, earning nervous looks from Jack and Miko.

"What?! Stinger can't do that! He's recovering from surgery!" Shockwave said frustrated.

"About that…" Raf trailed off.

In that moment, inside the facility…

"( **Give me back my T-Cog or…** )" Stinger began.

"Or you'll what? Shoot? How sad to be incapable to achieving vehicle mode. Experiencing the sensation of speed. How very pathetic to be a failure as a Decepticon." Grimlock tortured.

To Grimlock's surprise, Stinger sprinted for him and tackled him, causing him to throw his T-Cog in the air. Stinger managed to grab it, but Grimlock shot at the ceiling, making rubble to fall over him. Stinger managed to survive, but he saw his T-Cog a little damaged, which made him angry.

"Time to stampede! Because I can!" Grimlock said as he changed into his T-Rex form and get out of the facility, leaving Stinger holding his T-Cog in sadness.

Inside the forest, Thundertron waited for Grimlock until he arrived.

"My T-Cog?" Thundertron demanded.

"Yes, that. Unfortunately it was destroyed during the ferocity of battle." Grimlock said, earning an angry look from Thundertron. "Uh, temporary setback. Other Decepticons or Autobots, other T-Cogs. We shall find a replacement soon enough."

"Not soon enough. Now!" Thundertron said as Axer, Cannonball, Sandstorm and Brimstone came behind the trees and aimed their weapons at Grimlock, the same as their leader.

The only heard through the forest were Grimlock's screams. Meanwhile, in the mountain, Smokescreen continued to push the Decepticons towards the ledge of the mountain. Starscream tried to pass it flying, but Cliffjumper intercepted him.

"You better say your last words, Decepticons, because you have a long fall behind you!" Smokescreen smirked.

As Soundwave continued fighting Wheeljack, Breakdown managed to hit Bulkhead until he sent him flying back. But he saw the forge next to him, so he grabbed it while Bulkhead prepared to charge again.

"I got another one. And it's bigger!" Breakdown smirked.

Bulkhead looked to his wrecking ball before charging again, and Breakdown sent him flying with Wheeljack by the hit. Soundwave took advantage and immobilized Smokescreen with his tentacles before the shield pushed the other Decepticons out of the ledge. Smokescreen tried to grab the force field generator again, but someone reached at it first and used it to push him against a wall.

"For the most creative use of a shield generator in a supporting role, the winner is…Knock Out!" Knock Out said proudly.

Just then, a ground bridge appeared behind Breakdown and a shot took him down.

"Breakdown!" Knock Out screamed.

Ratchet came through the ground bridge while the rest of the Decepticons aimed their weapons at him.

"Nah-uh-uh." Ratchet said aiming his blaster at Breakdown as he grabbed the forge too, forcing them to take down their weapons and allowing the Autobots to get back to the portal.

"A relic of the Primes here on Earth? The Autobot cause is once again indebted to the contributions of Megatronus." Ratchet said walking through the ground bridge before the Decepticons fired at the other Autobots who escaped too before the portal disappeared.

"I'm fine." Breakdown said when Starscream reached him.

"Well, at least we managed to recover one relic." Knock Out said showing them the force field generator on his hand.

"Lord Megatron, we have reason to believe we have located the Star Seekers's center of operations. Stinger is already there." Shockwave communicated through the com-link.

Finally Grimlock came back online.

"What?" He said.

He saw that he was alone in the forest next to the facility. Just then the Decepticons came through a ground bridge.

"Decepticons!" He said alarmed.

Grimlock tried to change form, but it didn't work.

"Ah! My T-Cog! No!" Grimlock cursed, knowing what happened and who was the responsible.

He only could run through the forest to disappear. When the team reached the facility, Stinger walked outside sad, holding his T-Cog on his hands.

"Shockwave, reopen the ground bridge and prepare for surgery." Megatron ordered.

"Thanks to me, Prime has the forge." Breakdown said, feeling guilty.

"While we would have put the Forge of Solus Prime to valuable use, I do not believe we have reason to fear Optimus's possession of it." Megatron remarked.

"My liege, tell Shockwave that he can rest without worry. I will fix Stinger's part, it's my duty." Knock Out offered.

Meanwhile, on the Autobot warship, Optimus was trying to create something with the forge. He repeatedly smashed a metal box, but it did not change.

"Hm, it doesn't look like a Fortress Maximus grade super nucleon shock cannon." Wheeljack said looking at the flattened box.

"It doesn't make any sense. It's said that the forge can only work with the power of a Prime." Ratchet said

"So why it didn't do anything on your hands?" Elita asked.

"I don't understand it too. But by the way, we must not the less keep the forge as far as possible from the reach of Megatron, in case my fears result to be true." Optimus said.

Back to the Decepticon base, Knock Out already finished the surgery. Now he turned to everyone to inform them.

"I did what I could." Knock Out said.

"Our scout could not have been in better hands, old friend." Megatron said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"And we didn't stick with plan A and let Shockwave donate his cog, why?" Miko asked.

"Stinger wouldn't accept it." Jack answered.

"( **So, how was everything?** )" Stinger asked as he got off the medical berth.

"Stinger, please." Knock Out warned.

"( **Hey, I feel much better.** )" Stinger said flexing his arms really fast.

"Please, recovery takes time." Knock Out warned again.

Stinger tried to change form, but it didn't work.

"( **What?** )" Stinger asked in disbelief.

"The damage was… severe." Knock Out explained.

Everyone looked sad at Stinger as he tried again but he couldn't transform.

"( **I won't give up.** )" Stinger declared as he tried again.

Finally in the third try, Stinger changed into his alt mode. Everyone smiled while the kids cheered. Stinger began to revive his engines before opening his door.

"( **Raf, where do you want to go?** )" Stinger asked.

"Anywhere!" Raf answered in happiness as he ran into Stinger and buckled his seatbelt. "Just drive!"

Stinger drove fast out of base.

"Go easy! Haha, adhere to standard breaking procedure!" Knock Out called after him as he drove.

"Whoa. Sting's cog looked like it was ready for the scrap yard." Starscream said surprised.

"Hard to believe the doc repaired it." Airachnid said.

"That is not all that Knock Out repaired today." Megatron said with a smile.

Megatron was right, because Knock Out, in his inside, was really happy that the surgery was a success.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty Two- Lone Commando**

It was a quiet night in the Decepticon base, until someone mad called in.

"Megatron! What in blazes are your people doing out here?! We had an agreement! No collateral damage!" Silas reminded through his com-link.

"I am sorry, agent Silas. But all Decepticons are present and accounted for." Megatron informed as the Decepticons walked over to the screen.

"Then explain why I'm receiving reports of two giant robots mixing it up 20 miles outside Omaha!" Silas demanded.

"Autobots?" Starscream guessed.

"There has been plenty of in-fighting lately. Prime can't seem to keep his ranks in line." Airachnid said.

"Maybe because Prime doesn't have actually a proper second in command." Knock Out suggested.

"None that we know of yet." Shockwave added.

"Well, I'm just arriving on the scene. Have a look." Silas said before he showed them what he was seeing.

On the screen appeared a red robot with blue details very similar to Optimus Prime, except he had bigger shoulders, near to a crashed ship.

"Hm, I don't know. But I'm sure that can't be Optimus Prime." Starscream realized.

"The question still stands: who is the dance partner?" Airachnid asked.

The camera rotated to a landed ship and zoomed in on a bronze colored robot, with female appearance.

"By the Allspark. It's one of ours." Shockwave gasped.

"But who is she?" Knock Out asked.

"Hey, I know her. It's Astraea! She's here!" Breakdown cheered as he hit the Decepticons in the back with joy, causing them to almost fall over.

"I don't care if is someone very important! We have to contain the situation before we all wind up on the 11 o'clock news!" Silas declared.

On the crash site, Astraea peered behind her ship before the new Autobot kept firing at her. Then she came out of her hiding spot and fired at the Autobot.

"You got nowhere let to run, Bot!" She declared.

Astraea kept firing as the Autobot run off. Then she heard a plane noise and looked up to see Silas arrive on his plane.

"This is special agent Silas of the-Whoa!" Silas yelped as Astraea fired at him and he dodge. "Stand down, hothead! I'm on your side!"

The Autobot took the opportunity and fired at her. Astraea jumped into the air and missed the first shoot, but the second one hit her in the shoulder. Silas fired at the Autobot, causing him to run off. Astraea heard a ground bridge opened and saw the Decepticons run out.

"I didn't expect that could be reinforcements here." She said impressed.

The Decepticons split into two groups: Megatron, Breakdown and Knock Out went to Astraea, while Airachnid, Stinger and Starscream went after the Autobot. The Autobot opened his shoulders, showing two plasma turrets and fired at the first group, but Breakdown returned fire, forcing him to hide behind a gas station.

"Astraea!" Breakdown said reaching and helping her.

"Wait! You're…" Astraea began when she saw Breakdown.

The second group fired at the Autobot, forcing him to retreat more. He tried to found a way out, and he put his eyes on a truck near him, one similar to Optimus alt mode.

"That will do." The Autobot said before he began scanning it.

"It's happening again." Silas saw.

When the scanning finished, the Autobot started to run away.

"Oh no, you don't!" Astraea declared as she fired at the Autobot.

"Astraea!" Megatron warned.

"No!" Breakdown cried.

Some of the shots missed the Autobot and hit the gas tank, causing it to explode. The second team covered their eyes from the explosion, as the Autobot escaped in his new vehicle mode while Astraea kept firing at him.

"Ultra Magnus rigged the place to blow." Astraea snarled stopping firing.

"Ultra Magnus?!" Breakdown repeated in surprise.

"Actually, that was your handiwork, sparky." Airachnid corrected.

"It's called a gas station, kinda like an energon depo. Doesn't mix well with blaster fire." Starscream explained.

"Huh. Well, our Bot's getting away." Astraea said as she was about to follow Ultra Magnus, but Megatron stopped her.

"Astraea, there are other considerations. While upon this planet, you would do well to follow my lead." Megatron advised.

After the skirmish, Knock Out was repairing Astraea's shoulder inside base.

"Ow! Take it easy, doc. I need that arm!" Astraea informed.

"Hold still and maybe you'll keep it." Knock Out retorted.

"Look sir, apologies for the fireworks. Won't happen again. But I've tracked Ultra Magnus across a hundred light years of space." Astraea said.

"I thought you were roaming the galaxy, like all the other Cons. You know, looking for Decepticon refugees?" Breakdown cut in.

"I was, until I found one. A Stunticon." Astraea said.

"One member of my old team? Who?" Breakdown demanded with hope.

"Wildrider." She answered.

"Ha! How is my old buddy?!" Breakdown asked happy.

"Not so good, Breaky. Blown to pits actually." Astraea grimaced.

"What? No!" Breakdown said with sorrow.

"Ultra Magnus." Starscream said.

"My flyer picked up Wildrider's signal a couple of light years from Madarin. We made contact and arranged to rendezvous in the Dromedon system. But Ultra Magnus must have intercepted the transmission, because he got to Wildrider first. A proximity bomb built to take us both out. Guess I should be glad my ship could take a punch. Then I saw that Ultra Magnus was the responsible, he and another Wrecker named Seaspray. Fortunately I managed to take down Seaspray before he got away. After that, I picked up Ultra Magnus's ion trail; tracked him through a dozen solar systems before catching up with him." Astraea told.

In her memories, Astraea's ship located another Decepticon ship, but it exploded before she could reach it. Then she saw a Wrecker starfighter and destroyed it with her ship's laser cannons. After that she followed Ultra Magnus ship ( **the Autobot transport ship seen in Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark.** ) and managed to damage it, making it fall to Earth.

"Then he led me right to this marble. Some coincidence, huh?" Astraea finished.

"I know of this Ultra Magnus. He was general of the Elite Guard, leader of the Wreckers and as such, like his sparkmate Causeway, fiercely loyal to the Autobot cause. But he was more known as Optimus's second in command during the war for Cybertron. Ultra Magnus has no doubt travelled to Earth to pay allegiance to his one true master." Megatron told.

"Hope he's enjoying the visit. It's gonna be his last!" Astraea said as she stood up.

"Astraea, this planet is heavily inhabited. Any strike we make against the Autobots must be carefully measured as a team. Lest we risk endangering the human population." Megatron told her.

"Are you suggesting we sit back and do nothing?!" Astraea demanded.

"You, loose cannon!" Silas called out as he walked towards the Decepticons. "Your cowgirl antics almost blew our cover!"

"Cover?" Astraea repeated in confusion.

"We're robots in disguise, Astraea. You need an Earth-based vehicle mode outside of here." Starscream explained.

"That spaceship you shot down is not Earth based! I had to jump through some big hoops to get it hauled out of plain sight! You need to keep a tighter leash on your people, Megatron." Silas said.

"A tighter leash? Let me clarify, tiny." Astraea said walking up to Silas.

"Astraea." Breakdown warned.

"I'm not one of Megatron's people." Astraea declared before storming out of the main room.

"I'll talk to her. With your permission." Breakdown said looking at Megatron.

"Of course." Megatron nodded as Breakdown left.

"So the new girl has a little problem with authority." Silas stated dryly.

"Astraea was trained by one of my main lieutenants: Onslaught. He was the leader of a special team who operated sometimes outside of the normal chain of command: the Combaticons." Megatron explained.

"Huh, spec ops." Silas grumbled.

"They were a special team improved by myself, one of the few I created: the Combiners." Shockwave explained.

"Breakdown's team was also one of those teams, the Stunticons." Starscream added.

"They accepted missions no one else would. And sadly, Onslaught and his team disappeared while we left Cybertron ( **the last mission of Fall of Cybertron.** ), and we never knew about them since that." Megatron finished.

Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus climbed to a high rock where he sent a location beacon to the sky. Moments later, the Autobot warship appeared above him, so he went inside by the elevator. Once he was inside, he went to the bridge, where he met the leader of the Autobots.

"Lord Optimus Prime, I live to serve." Ultra Magnus said as he bowed towards his master.

"Is nice to see you again, old friend." Optimus said.

"Rise, Ultra Magnus. Loyalty such as yours is such a rare commodity." Elita One stated as Ultra Magnus rose to his feet.

"Mine runs deep and true. Yet, it is not loyalty alone that brought me here." Ultra Magnus admitted.

"Oh?" Optimus questioned with curiosity.

"I seek confirmation of the demise of one I whom considered my sparkmate." Ultra Magnus requested.

"How did you learn of her passing?" Optimus wanted to know.

"My sparkmate and I were so connected, that even across the galaxy I sensed when she emerged from stasis on this planet. And when her spark was no more…" Ultra Magnus trailed off.

Elita turned to Blaster, who showed her images about Causeway fighting against the Decepticons.

"It is true. Causeway perished at the hands of the Decepticons. Though not, in fact, under my watch." Elita confirmed as Grimlock's face appeared on Blaster's visor.

"Then by the pit, every last Decepticon on this accursed world will pay." Ultra Magnus vowed.

"The Decepticons will be punished for their crime and many others how and when I see fit." Optimus told Ultra Magnus.

"But master…" Ultra Magnus began to object.

"Conflicting agendas will only result in chaos and failure. You will be wise to remember that, Ultra Magnus. You are under my command now. And as such, you must follow my lead." Optimus proclaimed.

Moments later, inside a cave located on the base top, Breakdown was talking with Astraea as she exanimated her ship.

"Astraea, look. Even if it weren't for the humans, we couldn't take on the Bots right now. We're outnumbered." Breakdown told.

"Onslaught, Swindle, Brawl, Blast Off, Vortex; all disappeared. The same is happening with Scrapper's Constructicons and the Stunticons." She listed.

"That's what I'm talking about; guys like these are Decepticons. There's just not many of us left. But if we get behind Megatron, we have a chance to end this once and for all." Breakdown decreed.

"Guys like Megatron; they talk a good game. But when you're in the scrap, they don't wanna get their hands dirty." Astraea believed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You don't know Megatron like I do. Being a Stunticon meant everything to me, but I left it behind…" Breakdown began.

"Because Megatron was the real thing, blah, blah, blah. What happened to you with your team leader?" Astraea asked in annoyance.

"Motormaster was a good leader, exactly like Megatron. And like him, our leader cares for all of us. I'm still missing all my old teammates, but I know that fighting alongside Megatron we can help everyone in need." Breakdown answered.

Astraea sighed. "I'm sorry, Breakdown. I didn't want that our first conversation together was a discussion, but Onslaught and his team were like a family to me. And I don't want that other special teams like yours could meet the same fate." Astraea confessed in sadness.

Then a beeping sound came from inside the ship. "Astraea, I know you're out there, listening. I have a proposition for you."

"Is that?" Breakdown began.

"Ultra Magnus." Astraea growled.

"Meet me at these coordinates…if you have the spark." Ultra Magnus said.

"I'll see you there Bot, just to watch you fry." Astraea proclaimed as she sat down in the driver seat.

"Astraea, it's a trap." Breakdown warned.

"I know. But when has that ever stopped me?" She retorted as he fired up the ship's engines. "You are coming with?"

"At least let me call for backup." Breakdown pleaded as he sat next to her.

"Come on, don't you remember your team's motto?" Astraea asked.

"He, no matter how hard the things are, we're the kings of the road." Breakdown began.

"And we'll burn it!" The two Cons said in union as they hi-five each other.

The ship took off and left the base. Ultra Magnus was waiting in clear area of a forest. After a lot of seconds, he heard footsteps and turned behind to see Astraea in front of him.

"I wasn't certain you'd come." Ultra Magnus confessed.

"I don't like unfinished business." Astraea shrugged.

The two robots glared at each other as they waited for the other to attack. Then a missile appeared on Ultra Magnus's arm and launched it as Astraea launched a grenade. The two objects made contact and exploded. Ultra Magnus looked through the smoke to see Astraea jump into the air with two chainsaw swords in place of her hands. Ultra Magnus dodge it before running off through the forest, with Astraea following him. They both jumped down a trench before running through a canyon. Ultra Magnus smirked as he launched another missile from his arm at the Decepticons, but she was able to miss.

"That's all you've got?" Astraea taunted.

Ultra Magnus launched another missile which Astraea simply dodged before he ended up at a dead end.

"If you're thinking about driving out of here." Astraea began.

"Think again." Breakdown finished from his position at the ledge of the canyon.

Ultra Magnus looked back at Astraea before smirking, causing her to look at him in confusion. Astraea looked up to see a bomb right under Breakdown.

"Breakdown!" She cried.

The bomb exploded, causing the ledge under Breakdown to give away, burying both Decepticons under pile of rocks. Ultra Magnus drove flew over the rocks and turned back to his robot form above the canyon before looking back and smirk. That was noted on the Decepticon base too.

"Lord Megatron, Breakdown's signal: is over a 1000 miles from here." Soundwave informed.

"And I would have to imagine that Astraea's with him." Starscream added.

"Have you attempted contact?" Megatron asked.

"No response." Soundwave answered.

Megatron began to fear the worst. Minutes later, Astraea grunted as she began to push the rocks pilling over her. Then another hand helped her to get free.

"What took you so long, Breaky? Don't tell me riding with Megatron has made you…" Astraea stooped as she saw that was Megatron who was helping her.

"Soft?" She finished as Megatron helped her out of the rubble.

"If you will not take orders from me, that's one thing. But when you place one of my Decepticons in danger…" Megatron began.

"With all due respect sir, Breakdown knew the risks. Every member of a special team does. Now I'm sure he's just somewhere in this rubble." Astraea retorted.

"Lord Megatron, Breakdown's signal has moved from your current position!" Soundwave informed through the com-link.

"You're coming with?" Astraea asked casually.

While the Astraea piloted her ship to the location supplied by Soundwave, Megatron tapped his fingers on his knees as he took up an infinite amount of room on Astraea's ship.

"You and Breakdown share a similar history, and yet you prefer to work alone." Megatron said.

"After the fall of Cybertron the special teams scattered. And alone is usually a lot less complicated." Astraea shrugged.

Astraea's ship arrived in a harbor full of crates. They began to search inside the labyrinth of crates. Astraea held the scanner while Megatron covered her with his weapons.

"We are close to population. Remember…" Megatron began.

"Blasters and fuel pumps don't mix." Astraea finished as she looked at the scanner. "Our boy's just ahead."

They made a left turn and froze in shock: a bomb was stuck to Breakdown and the clock was counting down while he was trapped by stasis cuffs against a wall of containers.

"Hey guys." Breakdown said nervously.

"Scrap." Astraea cursed before she walked over to Breakdown. "You've really got yourself in a heap of scrap this time, partner."

"Stay back, Astraea." Breakdown pleaded.

"Better get to work." Astraea declared.

"Have you defused one of these before?" Megatron asked.

Astraea opened the bomb to reveal multiple wires within the bomb. "Fail safes, dummy leads, booby traps, it's a work of art."

What they didn't notice was that Ultra Magnus was watching them on a crate operator.

"Ultra Magnus, where are you?" Optimus asked through the com-link.

"Merely pursuing my destiny, lord Optimus Prime." Ultra Magnus answered casually.

"Did I not order you to stand down?" Optimus growled.

"Forgive me, one true master. But it is my hope that vanquishing Megatron will earn your respect."

"Megatron is not so easily disposed of as I keep trying to explain to all of those who foolishly attempt it." Optimus growled.

Meanwhile, Astraea was trying to deactivate the bomb on Breakdown's chest.

"Astraea, if you don't abort, we're both going to end burned." Breakdown warned.

"Trying to focus here, Breaky." Astraea shushed.

Then Breakdown noticed someone was missing. "Where is Megatron?"

Astraea only scoffed. "Like I told you. When the scrap hit the fan blades, the generals are the first to bail."

"No, not Megatron." Breakdown disagreed.

At the same time, Ultra Magnus continued his chat with Optimus.

"I assure you master, that in a few moments, Megatron and two others will be blown to atoms." Ultra Magnus said.

"I will allow it, Ultra Magnus. In memory of your departed mate, but only this once." Optimus said through the com-link before he hung off.

"I will be quite surprise if we ever set eyes upon Ultra Magnus again." Elita One confessed looking at Optimus.

Ultra Magnus kept watching how the two Decepticons were handling things, but it missed one.

"Where is Megatron?" Ultra Magnus asked himself.

"Ultra Magnus, if you are anything like Causeway, I know you value loyalty and honor." Megatron's voice echoed throughout the dock.

"Is there a point to your bluster, Megatron?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Only that Optimus knows nothing of those principles. He lives only for destruction and conquest, but there is another path. Deactivate the bomb." Megatron's voice echoed again.

Ultra Magnus jumped from the crane operator and fired at Megatron's voice. When he landed onto the ground aimed inside a path, he wasn't there. Meanwhile, Astraea kept trying to deactivate the bomb by herself.

"Get out of here already!" Breakdown begged.

"Your team didn't leave you behind and I'm not leaving you here!" She retorted.

"Face it. There's only one bot that can defuse this mess and his name his Ultra Magnus." Breakdown stated.

"Blaster fire's getting closer. As if the boss…" Astraea began, but then Breakdown broke one of the cuffs and punched her in the face, sending her flying before he gets free his other hand.

"Sorry Astraea. It's cause I love you." Breakdown said before he started running.

Meanwhile, in other side of the containers labyrinth, Megatron was making Ultra Magnus to chasing and firing at him while he returned some shots, running through the labyrinth. On the other side, Breakdown turned a corner and saw the waters of the harbor in front of him.

"Sorry fishes." Breakdown groaned.

Then Astraea jumped in front of him.

"Breakdown, wait!" She yelled.

"Out of my way!" Breakdown warned her, but she tried to prevent him to jump to the water pushing him back.

"Will you listen to me, Breaky?!" Astraea began when they were nearly at the ledge. "You were right! Ultra Magnus's the only one who can diffuse it! And Megatron knows it too."

Megatron flew towards the crane. Ultra Magnus kept looking for him, but when he reached a clear area, he heard Megatron made a battle cry dropping the claw onto him before jumping to the ground, trapping him. Ultra Magnus grunted as the Decepticons surrounded him.

"Ultra Magnus, diffuse the bomb or fall victim to your own device." Megatron threatened.

"I will gladly sacrifice myself to avenge my sparkmate." Ultra Magnus declared.

"Then we will, in turn, gladly join the Allspark with our sister." Megatron declared.

"And with you. You'll never shake us." Astraea added.

Breakdown only saw them nervous as the timer continued to run, so he closed his eyes expecting the worst.

"Very well." Ultra Magnus finally said.

Megatron lifted the claw before Ultra Magnus stood up and walked over to Breakdown. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as Ultra Magnus pulled a blue wire, stopping the bomb at the last second, making Breakdown to sigh in relief.

"I had it narrowed down to the blue or the yellow…or the red." Astraea shrugged.

Ultra Magnus slowly pulled out his remote and pressed a button, causing multiple explosions to go off in the area. With the Decepticons distracted, he took the chance and transform to drive out of the place. The Decepticons tried to shot him down, but he got away.

"So who do we call for clean this mess?" Astraea looked back at the damage.

Seconds later, Ultra Magnus returned to the Ark.

"Megatron still lives. And do you, Ultra Magnus. And that is a victory, however small. As Causeway so tragically discovered." Optimus proclaimed.

"Speak to me not of my mate, Optimus Prime. For I am here on Earth to obey your will and yours alone." Ultra Magnus concluded, making Optimus smirk.

The Decepticons returned to their base too, at next morning.

"Listen, sir. I just wanna say it was an honor watching you work. I, huh…think maybe I had the wrong idea about you." Astraea admitted.

"And it would seem that you place a greater value in community then you otherwise let on." Megatron smiled as he let out his hand for Astraea to shake.

"Whoa! Let's not jump the gun here!" Astraea exclaimed before Breakdown punched her on the shoulder playfully.

"Come on, Astraea. If you leave, you'll probably just wind up coming right back again." Breakdown said.

"All that wasted fuel." Airachnid pointed out.

"And energon is in short supply." Knock Out added.

"( **As many as we can be more chances we'll have to take down the Bots.** )" Stinger said.

"Then again, we do have limited space." Starscream grumbled.

"I'm sure that you wouldn't say that if we were talking about Slipstream." Shockwave reminded, making him groaned.

"Not sure if I'm ready to give up my freedom just yet. Maybe I can do some exploring, see if this planet suits me." Astraea shrugged.

"No offence to your ship, but you need an Earth-based vehicle mode." Breakdown told her.

"Show me what you got." Astraea told him with a smile.

Moments later, Astraea was outside base in middle of the desert. She began to run before she jumped and transformed into an off-road truck, her new vehicle mode, and began to drive to explore Earth by her own.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty Three- Ambush**

It was a normal day when the Autobot warship flew over a canyon. Inside, Arcee walked inside the bridge with intention to have a conversation.

"If it pleases you, commander. Once our liege continued decoding the remainder of the Iacon database, as we know he will, I would suggest the deployment of an underutilized asset." Arcee suggested.

"And what asset would that be, Arcee?" Elita One asked.

"I believe an expert scout would expertise your quest to recover the remaining relics." Arcee answered as she bowed towards Elita and Optimus.

"Only if your superior agrees with that." Optimus answered looking at his mate.

"Noted." Elita answered.

"You are a gracious audience, my lady." Arcee said before standing up and leaving.

"Are you sure she is the best option for recover relics?" Optimus asked.

"Arcee maybe's not the cooperating Bot, but she's the best on her field." Elita admitted.

"Optimus, Blaster as detected an unidentified signal." Ratchet reported.

"Of what origin?" Optimus asked.

"We don't know, but if it seems a high signal, of a strange frequency." Ratchet explained.

"It could be a Decepticon trap." Elita suggested.

"Or maybe another relic of great power. It requires investigation." Optimus concluded.

In the ship's armory, Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers were examining the weapons.

"I didn't have time to say this when you first arrived here, but it's good to have you here again, boss." Bulkhead said.

"Yeah, and its bad luck what happened to poor Seaspray. That Con will pay for that." Wheeljack admitted.

"I admit that it's good to see you again, soldiers." Ultra Magnus said while he continued checking the weapons.

In that moment, Optimus called in from a screen.

"Ultra Magnus."

"I am at your beck and call, Optimus Prime." Ultra Magnus proclaimed as he bowed slightly.

"I wish to entrust you with a task. That is if you wish to prove yourself worthy of becoming my second in command, again." Optimus explained.

"I believed that post belongs to Arcee!" Ultra Magnus retorted.

"No, she's only an authority figure, from Elita One." Wheeljack corrected.

"The problem is that since the betrayal of the last second in command, no one has proven worthy to wield that post. Maybe you can wield it, sir." Bulkhead suggested.

"Being the Autobots second in command and Wrecker chief, just like the old times." Wheeljack added.

Ultra Magnus lowed his head in confusion.

"And I suggest you bring backup, to see if you still have your leadership skills." Optimus declared.

In middle of the night, inside a forest, Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack, Bulkhead and Arcee were walking together, looking for the strange signal.

"Am I the only one who seems this as an exaggerated need? I mean, looking for a relic only requires a scout, not a whole team of Wreckers." Arcee said.

"The boss already knows who can get the job done better." Wheeljack answered.

"Yeah, and maybe made a lot of unnecessary noise, not talking of the possibility of getting a relic destroyed." Arcee objected.

"Hey! Maybe breaking things is our specialty but we can do other jobs!" Bulkhead yelled.

"Everyone, calm down, we all have the same goal. And since Optimus assigned me this mission, I'll make the decisions here." Ultra Magnus told.

"Alright. So what's the plan, commander?" Arcee asked irritated.

"You'll remain hidden between the woods, so if any case we found something hostile you can provide cover. We'll advance and scout the area from the front." Ultra Magnus explained.

Arcee nodded, agreeing with the plan before she went inside the forest.

"Wreckers, prepare yourselves." Ultra Magnus warned as they pulled out their weapons.

"So how is that you bring with you the big hammer, sir?" Wheeljack asked, seeing that Ultra Magnus was carrying the Forge of Solus Prime on his back.

"The forge is no unavailable for our master right now, so he gave me permission to use it by other way." He responded.

The Wreckers continued walking toward the signal while Arcee watched them inside the woods. Once they reached a clear area, the scanner began beeping louder.

"The signal's strong." Bulkhead noticed. "And it seem is coming from right there."

Right where the scanner was indicating, there was a very familiar Bot.

"Well, well. It isn't the Star Seeker called Sandstorm?" Wheeljack recognized.

"You know him?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Yes, he's a traitor who joined that group of killers in middle of the war for Cybertron." Wheeljack explained.

"He even helped Thundertron to capture and torture me!" Bulkhead added mad.

"He maybe knows what the signal is. So, let's go and see what he's doing here." Ultra Magnus decided before they walked towards him. "Hold right there, Sandstorm!"

That made the Star Seeker to get up and looked behind him.

"Whoa hello there. It isn't the great Ultra Magnus and his group of Wreckers. What are you looking here?" Sandstorm asked them.

"We were going to ask you the same thing." Wheeljack said.

"I'm just here alone with a little research of my own, nothing interesting." Sandstorm told them.

"That may be able to explain the signal we detected." Bulkhead observed.

"So you still have your servos in their place, Bulkhead. I believed that after our encounter on the facility, you wouldn't want be on the field again." Sandstorm joked.

"Wreckers don't break so easy!" Bulkhead answered in rage.

"You better tell us what are you doing here or you're going to need clean up. Besides, is only you against us three." Wheeljack reminded him.

"Sorry, but my research is private, and no available for Autobots." Sandstorm said.

"In that case you're going to give it to us by one way or another. And for the capital crime of betraying the Autobot cause, you're now under arrest." Ultra Magnus concluded as he aimed his weapons at him.

"Of course, the choice is yours." Wheeljack said as he pulled out his swords.

"Well, if you want my spark, you'll have to get it!" Sandstorm responded launching a couple of missiles at them.

That made the Wreckers to dodge them and looked for cover, since Sandstorm changed to his tank form and began to fire his cannon at them.

"Arcee, now!" Ultra Magnus yelled through the com-link.

Immediately, Arcee came driving from the woods, jumped on Sandstorm and began firing at him.

"Ugh, that's not fun." He said before changing to his robot form again and grabbing Arcee.

"Now!" Ultra Magnus shouted.

Wheeljack ran towards Sandstorm and kicked his back, freeing Arcee. She took the chance and punched the Star Seeker on his face before Bulkhead smashed him in the face. Ultra Magnus engaged him with a couple of hits, and made the final hit by using the forge as a normal hammer. The hit sent Sandstorm flying inside the forest. The Autobots tried to reach him, but they didn't found him.

"Scrap. He's gone." Wheeljack cursed.

"Where did he go?" Arcee asked.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. At least we know that he's leaving a trail." Ultra Magnus said looking an energon trail, knowing that at least the Star Seeker was hurt.

Not far from there, inside a cave, there was a tiny energon crystal, but it attracted the attention of a certain Dinobot.

"How is that I've been reduced to seeking energon scraps merely to survive?" Grimlock grunted as he plucked the crystal from the wall.

Naturally, Grimlock fell to the ground after that. Then he heard a strange noise coming deeper from the cave. He went to investigate and saw something digging: it was some kind of giant robotic insect with six legs, a lone abdomen, some spikes on his body and a head with a red visor with two large jaws ( **the Insecticons from Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark** ).

"A bug? On Earth?! It's no possible. Wait, that is not an Insecticon." Grimlock said noticing that the cybertronian insect didn't have the Decepticon emblem, but instead the Autobot emblem.

Believing that creature may not be dangerous, he tried to get a big piece of energon that it pulled out from the wall.

"You there, scavenger. Deliver that energon to me." Grimlock ordered.

The creature only looked at him before it continued searching.

"You dare turn your back on a superior life form?! I am general Grimlock!" He said smacked on the creature's back a little.

That action made the robotic insect responding by attacking Grimlock, who was forced to retreat a little before he pulled out his shield to contain the bug, which was trying to bit him with his jaws.

"Fine! If you want to die for a piece of energon I will please you!" Grimlock responded.

Then the creature stopped attacking him mysteriously. It turned back and walked towards a bunch of rocks, where there was someone on the top: Sandstorm.

"Yes, minion. Approach me. Obey me. Worship me." He said.

The creature, which was like hypnotized, bowed before him before offering him the energon.

"You shouldn't have." Sandstorm chuckled.

"What?! You reject a general but grovel at the feet of that wrench?!" Grimlock exclaimed getting up.

"Grimlock, don't get your turbines in a twist. The truth is that is seems that my expectations are truth." Sandstorm said.

"What do you mean?" Grimlock asked interested.

"I was experimenting with sonic frequency waves after I discovered a strange but promising trail, which I recognized it as a bug trail. Then I came with an idea to try to get control over the bugs. I know they communicate between themselves by a specific sonic frequency, so if could manipulate that frequency I could command them. And here's the example, now I get alongside with this… Insectobot, if you need some name to identify these species." Sandstorm explained.

"Hum, impressive. Anyway, why are you here?" Grimlock asked walking towards him with the Insectobot next to him. "Autobots never return to stripped mines! And I'm sure that your treacherous captain has now his own energon deposits!"

"You are not the only rogue Autobot in need of energon." Sandstorm answered as he gestured to the leaking energon wound from his chest.

"Was it a run in with the Decepticons or the Autobots?" Grimlock asked.

"Prime was otherwise engaged. So he sent his minions to try to finish me. I admit that I underestimate them." Sandstorm answered.

"You know, Sandstorm, as fellow outcasts, we should consider putting aside our differences. With this creature under your control and at our disposal, we might employ it to terminate Optimus Prime… allowing us to rule the Autobots." Grimlock suggested.

"Together?" Sandstorm questioned.

"We would simply need to lure Optimus here, away from his support systems so then we might catch him." Grimlock began.

"With his guard down. An intriguing proposal…if ruling the Autobots or spending any length of time with you were of the slightest interest to me. I only think of my captain's wishes first." Sandstorm answered, making Grimlock gasped nervously. "Of course, you had me at terminating Prime. Payback would be sweet."

"However you wish to spin it." Grimlock grumbled.

"I would need to insure my assassin is up to the task. Perhaps a test run is in order. And what best way to prove it that against a Dinobot, I heard your kind specialized on eradicating Insecticons. Maybe our version is more to your level, after all you now can't access to your alternative form." Sandstorm smirked looking at Grimlock.

"What?! I thought we were partners!" Grimlock cried, realizing what he was about to.

"Eviscerate him!" Sandstorm ordered.

The Insectobot roared before it advanced towards Grimlock, who prepared for the worst. Sometime later, the Decepticon base received a message.

"What is it?" Shockwave asked as he heard a loud beeping from the computer.

"A high-frequency signal with an embedded message." Soundwave answered.

"Again?" Starscream groaned.

"Grimlock. I have obtained information of extreme interest to you. Bring medical kit." Soundwave read.

"I'll get Knock Out." Starscream informed.

"Soundwave, main the ground bridge." Shockwave instructed.

Grimlock groaned as he held his bleeding leg in pain. Then he heard the ground bridge opened in front of him before Shockwave and Starscream came out and checked the area with their weapons.

"Clear!" Starscream declared before Knock Out stepped out of the portal with a medical kit.

"Make it fast." Shockwave instructed.

"It would appear that like myself, Sandstorm has gone rogue." Grimlock told him.

"What's it to us?" Knock Out scoffed.

"He's planning to retaliate against…mankind. I can provide you with his current location." Grimlock lied slightly.

"I don't believe you." Starscream declared.

"Why wouldn't you? I directed you to the location of the Autobot space bridge so you could rescue Megatronus, didn't I?" Grimlock reminded them.

"Yeah! But then you helped Thundertron steal Stinger's T-Cog!" Knock Out retorted as he stepped forward.

"So, he got it back, didn't he?!" Grimlock retorted.

Shockwave scowled as the three walked back to the ground bridge, about to leave the Dinobot to die.

"I admit! Allying myself with those vile Star Seekers was a colossal error in judgment! But I am alone! I do I must to survive!" Grimlock cried trying to get up, but the pain made him to fall on his knees. "But I have paid the price! I am now the one missing his T-Cog!"

"You have not your dino mode anymore?!" Knock Out repeated in disbelief.

"Thus of little, if any, threat to you. But Sandstorm and his Insectobot intend to…" Grimlock began.

"Wait! A what?!" Starscream asked.

"I heard rumors of the existence of a relative species of the Insecticons, more relative with the Autobots, so they fight more for their cause." Shockwave explained.

"And there is one here?!" Starscream demanded in disbelief.

"How?" Knock Out asked.

"And I would have asked. But I was too busy squeezing through a narrow crevice trying to keep the vermin from chewing my leg off, while Sandstorm watched." Grimlock growled.

At the same time, aboard the Ark, Optimus was getting a discussion with his minions.

"The reason for our inability to identify the signal's function is all too clear. But how is it you were unable to finish that traitor?!" Optimus demanded angry.

"I still don't get it, it disappeared so fast." Wheeljack said.

"But we still have a chance to finish him, my liege. We managed to hurt him badly because he left an energon trail." Arcee explained.

"The only thing we need to do to locate him and the signal is to check his trail until it leads us to him." Ultra Magnus suggested.

"My liege." Bumblebee said running towards them.

"What is it?" Elita demanded.

"Someone is calling us." Bee explained.

"That is no possible; it can't be one of us! Everyone is aboard the ship. Unless that one knows our frequency." Ratchet thought.

"Looking for me?" The voice said through the com-link.

"It's Sandstorm!" Bulkhead observed.

"Trace the communication!" Optimus ordered to Blaster.

"Prime, truly? You've sent simple henchmen to terminate an important rogue Autobot! I thought you reserve that honor for your sparkmate or yourself." Sandstorm said.

"Is that a challenge?" Optimus questioned.

"An invitation. And since Blaster is no doubt tracking this signal, you know where to find me." Sandstorm said before ending the transmission.

"I'll be back." Optimus proclaimed.

"Optimus, wait. It could be a trap. You shouldn't go alone." Elita warned.

"I know, but you and I know that deserters and traitors are need to be punished by ourselves by the worst known ways to remind everyone was is the price of betrayal, and the sooner the better. Don't worry; I fought enemies tougher than triple changers." Optimus reassured before he gave her a hug before leaving.

"Allow me to accompany you." Ultra Magnus offered.

"You already had your chance." Optimus said before he left.

"We can't let him go alone to that encounter." Ultra Magnus repeated.

"I already lost him. I would not lose him again." Elita said, agreeing with Ultra Magnus.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons were analyzing the same coordinates.

"The coordinates Grimlock provided are within an abandoned Autobot mine." Soundwave observed.

"Hold on! You just fixed him up and sent him on his way?" Airachnid asked in disbelief.

"( **Have you forgotten that he almost destroyed my T-Cog?** )" Stinger reminded.

"What were we supposed to do? Take him back here?!" Knock Out retorted.

"Not that I wouldn't jump at any chance to put down an Autobot or Star Seeker, but Grimlock is the one who robbed me a partner." Airachnid declared.

"You weren't there, Airachnid! Grimlock was weak, defenseless! He can't use what name him Dinobot." Starscream defended.

"And learning of the Insectobot could provide highly tactical! Grimlock's Intel has proven credible in the past." Shockwave pointed out.

"Insectobot?" Breakdown asked in confusion.

"Sure! When he wasn't busy stabbing us in the back!" Airachnid snarled.

"Without the resources we possessed on Cybertron, we lack ready means of capturing and imprisoning our enemies. Nonetheless, I do not condone the termination of any defenseless life form." Megatron stated.

Optimus drove in the middle of a thunderstorm towards where Sandstorm supposed to be. He transformed back to his robot form jumping inside a hole in the ground, entering a cave. He walked towards a bunch of rocks, where Sandstorm came out.

"You don't waste time." Sandstorm smirked.

"Your stay of execution has come to an end." Optimus decreed as he charged his blaster and activated his battle mask.

Immediately, the Insectobot jumped from above and tackled him to the ground. Optimus reacted quickly grabbing the Insectobot and threw it across the ground. The creature quickly recovered as it got onto its feet and let out a screech.

"I will leave you two to get acquainted." Sandstorm said as he transformed into his helicopter form, flew and changed to his robot form landing onto higher ground.

"Bow before Optimus Prime, the last of the Primes." Optimus ordered to the Insectobot, but the creature didn't listen as it charged at him. "I said bow…"

The Insectobot grabbed him by his helm and threw him towards the wall. Optimus tried to recover, but the Insectobot pinned him against the wall. Optimus grunted as he tried to get free from the beast's grasp, while Sandstorm smirked knowing that the beast was completely under his control. Optimus managed to free his arm before pulled out his blaster and firing at the beast, causing it to fly across the area. Then the creature transformed into his alt mode: a flying insect; and charged at Optimus. Optimus was prepared to fire again, but Sandstorm shot a little device that deactivated his weapons. That allowed the Insectobot to slam Optimus into the wall before grabbing him and throwing him at the wall again, and next it threw him in the air before charging at him. Optimus cried in pain as the Insectobot sliced at his shoulder before flying back around and firing at him with a laser cannon on its head. The shots sent Optimus back to the ground with force while the Insectobot transformed back to his original form and landed. Optimus wiped some of the energon from his shoulder while Sandstorm chuckled in delight. The Insectobot charged once again, but Optimus back-handed it against the wall, making Sandstorm's chuckling ceased.

"You and your beast would do well to remember." Optimus began as he pulled out his sword. "I was trained personally by my predecessor: Sentinel Prime!"

The Insectobot and Optimus charged at each other as they locked horns. At the same time, a ground bridge opened at the entrance of the cave where the Decepticons came out.

"Proceed with extreme caution." Megatron warned.

Optimus continued blocking the Insectobot's claws with his swords. He sliced it, but it simply jumped over him. Optimus tried to slice again, but the creature jumped on the wall and tackles him.

"Come on, useless bug. Finish him!" Sandstorm screamed.

Just in that moment, the Decepticons entered the room, just above all them.

"Whoa! Grim never mentioned Prime!" Breakdown recalled.

"It would seem Grimlock orchestrated this convergence. In the hope that all his enemies would destroy each other on his behalf." Megatron deduced.

"And we fell for it." Knock Out said.

"So, what's the plan?" Airachnid asked.

"Airachnid, you are the fastest of all of us. I need you to distract Sandstorm while we face the Insectobot and Optimus." Megatron instructed.

"Got it." Airachnid agreed as she activated her spider legs and jumped over Sandstorm.

At the moment he noticed her, she tackled him and grabbed him with her webs to throw him against the wall.

"You?" Sandstorm asked in disbelief.

Airachnid charged at him while Optimus kept battling the Insectobot. He managed to kick the creature to the wall, and then he noticed that Sandstorm was gone, but the Decepticons were watching his rumble.

"So many surprises today." Optimus remarked while the Insectobot attack him from the wall, but Optimus detected it and slice at him.

Meanwhile, Sandstorm was ascending in his helicopter form into a hole firing missiles at Airachnid, who was following him climbing. Then Sandstorm began shooting a lot of missiles and lasers at one point of the wall to make another tunnel, Airachnid simply shot at the hole before she began to follow him. At the same time, Optimus sliced at the Insectobot once more and grabbed two of the Insectobot's legs. He kicked the beast back, ripping the legs in the process. He dropped them before he charged again and sliced the Insectobot's head with his sword. After the head fell to the ground, the body collapsed too.

"Let that be a warning to anyone who dares cross a Prime! Be they Autobot!" Optimus declared before the Decepticons jumped in front of him and aimed their weapons at him. "Or Decepticon!"

Optimus tried to walk towards Megatron, but he collapsed onto the ground from his injuries. The only thing he could do was look to Megatron.

"It would seem that I'm unarmed and are at your mercy. So tell me, Megatron. Do you intend to take me alive or end this here and now?" Optimus asked.

Stinger, Knock Out, Breakdown and Starscream looked at each other with concern. But Megatron's answer was aiming and charging at Optimus's head. But before he could fire, a storm of lasers came from above them.

"The surprises never cease." Optimus remarked.

A whole army of Aerobots landed and surrounded the Decepticons while Elita One and Ultra Magnus transformed and aimed their blasters at Megatron.

"Oh scrap." Starscream cursed.

Meanwhile, Airachnid was still tracking Sandstorm by the tunnels he created by force. But then, she noted something sticky on one of her spider legs and saw a bunch of Insectobot substance.

"Scrap." She said before the substance pulled her out of the tunnels and trapped her in a whole cocoon of the same substance.

"There is some much that I learned about my new pet, even how to use his materials to capture other bots." Sandstorm said, revealing that it was him the one who prepared the trap.

"Don't think you have won by any way." Airachnid said trying to get free.

"You're wrong. This might not be the day that I take Prime's spark. But it is the day I remove yours." Sandstorm decreed as he held Airachnid's head and turned his other hand into an axe, ready to kill her.

But before he could strike, a giant boulder hit him, knocking him away from Airachnid. She looked over to see that his savior was Grimlock, with another big boulder on his other hand while the Star Seeker tried to get up, looking him with anger.

"How right you were, Sandstorm. Payback is sweet." Grimlock smirked as he launched the other boulder at him.

Sandstorm escaped changing into his tank form and firing at the boulder, destroying it before it crushed him. When the smoke cloud disappeared, he was gone. Meanwhile, inside the cave…

"Deliver Optimus to us and we will allow you to live." Elita proclaimed to Megatron.

"Never trust a Bot! Terminate Prime now!" Starscream encourage him.

Megatron looked at Optimus before he looked at Ultra Magnus and Elita One.

"Elita, Magnus, do I have your words?" Megatron asked.

After a long pause, Elita and Ultra Magnus deactivated their weapons, so Megatron did the same.

"We do." Ultra Magnus answered.

"Optimus." Elita said as she and Ultra Magnus helped her mate to his feet.

"Magnus and Elita might have given you their words, but I did not. Destroy them!" Optimus ordered.

All the Aerobots fired at the Decepticons, so they responded by the same way as Optimus, Ultra Magnus and Elita One transformed and get out of the cave.

"Elita, thank you." Optimus said when Elita flew near to him in vehicle mode.

"This wasn't my idea, Optimus. It was Ultra Magnus's." She answered as Ultra Magnus approaches them.

"You disobeyed my orders in following me here. Welcome back, general." Optimus declared before the three turned back to the Ark.

After a long fight, the Decepticons neutralized all the Autobots.

"That was intense." Breakdown said.

But Airachnid was now in biggest trouble with Grimlock.

"Now if there is one thing I despite nearly as much as traitor scum… its eight-leggers." Grimlock sneered.

"Go on. Get it over with." Airachnid growled.

"As I recollect, in a similar predicament, you once allowed me to live." Grimlock pointed out as he prepared his sword.

Airachnid closed her eyes waiting for the final hit, but Grimlock only cut the cocoon that was hoisting her in the air.

"Consider us even." Grimlock said as he walked away.

"Airachnid, what's your status?" Megatron asked through the com-link.

"In need of assist, but alive. And so is Sandstorm." Airachnid answered while the Decepticons ran through the tunnels towards her.

"At least Optimus took care of the bug problem." Breakdown pointed out.

Sandstorm got inside on the tunnels, hurt.

"Grimlock, I vow I will have your head for my captain." Sandstorm declared.

He realized that he was in an unfamiliar tunnel, so he decided to investigate. When he entered inside a hole in is helicopter form, he entered a huge cave with a lot of Insectobots in stasis in everywhere.

That made Sandstorm chuckled a lot. "So my pet was merely a scout. My captain will be glad when I'll show him this in action."


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty Four- Nemesis Prime**

It was in the middle night when agent Silas drove out to the exit of a military base. He was ordered to slow to a stop by a soldier before he saluted him.

"At ease, soldier." Silas said as he returned the salute.

The gate opened and Silas drove onto the open road towards his home, without noticing that a big vehicle began following him hidden between the rocks. Silas decided to turn on the radio to listen some music. He listened an ancient interesting song ( **The Touch by Stan Bush** ). Then a vehicle behind him turned on its head lights, blinding him.

"Go around!" Silas yelled by opening the window and waved his hand.

However, the driver slammed the back of the car, causing Silas to spin out of control before screeching to a stop.

"That's not road rage. Someone's trying to bump me off!" Silas realized.

Then he widened his eyes in shock as he saw the Autobot emblem on the grill.

"Prime?!" Silas noticed before he started up the car and started driving away from the Autobot. "So the Autobot leader is on a personal hunt! Better call for backup!"

Meanwhile, inside the Decepticon base, Jack, Miko and Raf were in the middle of a remote control car race, and their Decepticons partners were cheering them.

"( **You're going to make it, Raf!** )" Stinger cheered.

"Metal to the pedal, Miko!" Breakdown encouraged.

"Go, Jack! Go!" Airachnid cheered.

"No way! Raf's scorching us!" Miko decreed.

"And the winner is Raf!" Knock Out said holding a race flag.

In that moment, someone called in.

"Megatron! Do you read me?!" Silas asked.

"I'm sorry, agent Silas. Lord Megatron isn't here at the moment." Shockwave told him.

"Well tell him that I need him here immediately, because Prime's trying to run me off the road!" Silas proclaimed.

"What?!" Knock Out asked as he and all the others were in disbelief.

"Agent Silas, that is hardly illogical." Shockwave said.

"But is not impossible." Starscream added.

"Tell that to my burning trends!" Silas said as he continued driving.

The two vehicles reached a bridge as Optimus drove up next Silas and slammed him onto the railing. Silas began spinning out of control as he slammed into the other side of the railing, destroying it and causing his car to tip over the edge.

"Come on, come on." Silas said as he tried to back up, but it was no use since both wheels were not on the road.

The vehicle began slowly pushing Silas off the edge of the railing as Silas looked back at it.

"No." He begged.

Then a ground bridge appeared and the Decepticons came through it. Just when the vehicle almost threw him off the edge, Stinger grabbed the car. The other Decepticons transformed as the vehicle began driving away.

"Looks like Optimus." Breakdown noticed.

"No, Prime doesn't run from a fight he can win." Airachnid said before she transformed and flew after Optimus.

Meanwhile, Starscream, Breakdown and Knock Out were going to help Stinger to get Silas up, but then the bumper of the car ripped apart from the car, causing Silas to scream as he fell below. Starscream jumped over the bridge and activated his jet engine to reach the ground before Silas did and grab him.

"You alright in there?" Starscream asked.

"At ease, soldier." Silas panted, but grunted in surprise and slight pain as the airbags finally deployed.

Meanwhile, Airachnid followed the vehicle to an abandoned gas station. She inspected the area with her vehicle mode lights, with there was nothing there. Then she heard a driving noise next to her and saw the truck driving at her before her lights went out. When she was waking up, Knock Out was examining her with a light.

"Yes, that's it. Follow the light." Knock Out encourage.

"Wait what?!" Airachnid gasped before realizing she was at base. "Not the best choice of words, Knock Out."

"Airachnid, are you alright?" Jack asked with worry as she stepped out of the medical chamber with the help of Stinger and Knock Out.

"Sure, except for being blindside by Optimus." She answered tiredly.

"Didn't I tell you?!" Silas exclaimed.

"Impossible!" Starscream scoffed.

"I'm only reporting what I saw." Airachnid defended herself.

"But why are you saying that is impossible that Optimus would try to knock out agent Silas?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, isn't him the tyrant leader of the Autobots? The worst of all?" Miko reminded.

"You are right about that, Miko. But Starscream has a logical point about this suspicion." Shockwave said.

"Which one?" Silas asked.

"First of all, as leader, Optimus prefers to send his minions to most of all the activities including search and destroy. Second, he doesn't risk his own spark unless is about looking an important relic or battling Megatron." Starscream explained.

"That means the possibility of him trying to destroy agent Silas is very remote. Unless he was trying to bring in Megatron to a trap, this skirmish has no sense." Shockwave explained.

"Do you think maybe something has made him change his mind?" Raf asked.

"Maybe." Shockwave agreed.

"If Prime has gone off the rails for any reason, we have a serious problem." Silas said.

"We will discuss this incident with lord Megatron when he came back. He's the one who knows Optimus better than anyone." Starscream declared.

"Lord Megatron is back." Soundwave announced.

All heard an engine noise and saw Megatron entered the base in his cybertronian jet form before he transformed.

"Is something wrong?" Megatron asked seeing everyone looking at him so quiet.

"We're just…wondering where you've been." Knock Out answered.

"We haven't been able to reach you." Breakdown added.

"I have been outside of our communication range, in a subterranean energon deposit." Megatron said pulling out a glowing energon shard.

"Forgive our surprise, lord Megatron. We have engaged a weird situation that maybe is best to agent Silas to explain to you." Starscream said.

"What situation?" Megatron asked with curiosity.

"He's right. I was attacked earlier tonight on an open highway by a big rig. One that bore a striking resemblance to your nemesis." Silas explained.

At dawn, the same black truck drove down the street towards a military base. A guard noticed this before stepping out of his post.

"Hall!" He ordered putting his hand in front of the vehicle.

But the driver didn't listen. Instead, it drove even faster towards the gate, causing the soldier to jump out of the way as the truck crashed through the gate and continued throughout the military base, damaging helicopters and almost running over soldiers. The truck stopped in the middle of the base as the military surrounded him.

"This is a restricted area. Exit the vehicle or we will open fire." One of the soldiers said.

Two soldiers rushed over to the vehicle and looked at each other before opening the door, only to find out that no one was inside. The door suddenly closed before the vehicle transformed into Optimus Prime, but this one had yellow eyes and was all black.

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. And I bring you this message." The other Optimus rumbled as he unfolded his cannon and fired.

Seconds later, Silas received a call.

"Silas here. What?! Yes sir, I will tell them immediately." Silas said before he hung up. "Alden Military Base is under attack, by Optimus Prime."

"The truck?" Jack asked.

"The bot. They have required your assistance." Silas said looking at Megatron.

"Understood. Decepticons, rise up!" Megatron declared.

Meanwhile, there was an entire chaos inside the base.

"Fire! Fire!" A soldier yelled as the other Optimus was wreaking havoc in the military, shooting down buildings, soldiers and going on.

As it continued its rampage, a ground bridge suddenly opened and the Decepticons stepped out. The other Optimus transformed into its alt mode before driving off.

"That's not Optimus." Megatron noticed as it left the area.

"We should pursuit him, lord Megatron?" Starscream suggested.

"No." Megatron said putting a hand in front of him. "Whatever that cybertronian is, is gone. Right now we must focus ourselves on helping the military to stabilize the situation here." Megatron instructed before all the Decepticons began to help the soldiers to secure the base.

After that, everyone was in base again.

"Yes sir. I know." Silas said before hanging up.

"So what's the damage?" Jack asked.

"All military personnel are under strict orders to destroy any and all Bots on site. But not the Cons." Silas announced.

"Well, bad luck for the Autobots." Miko said, trying to see the positive side.

"Even with that, the military order changes nothing. Our imposter clearly poses a grave threat to humanity." Megatron rumbled.

"Wait, how do you know that Bot wasn't Optimus?" Breakdown asked.

"First of all, Optimus is dark red and purple, while this one is all black. Second, its optics were yellow, on the contrary of Optimus's which are red like rage, hate and evil. And I know that Optimus would not attack that way like we have seen." Megatron explained.

"A thirty foot tall transforming impostor." Silas corrected.

"So where did this Optimus Prime's twin brother come from? Does he have a brother?" Knock Out asked.

"I don't think so." Starscream immediately said.

"They actually did it. Those butchers managed to crack the code!" Shockwave snarled.

"The Star Seekers." Megatron growled.

At that moment, the impostor was returning to a secret center of operations of the Star Seekers. He entered inside a big room when Thundertron was waiting, then he transformed in front of him.

"I attacked the military base, as you instructed. It's nearly destroyed." The impostor reported.

"Excellent, your field test is now completed. Get some rest until we summon you." Cannonball.

"Understood." It said before it turned off.

"So, did my new elite soldier pass the test?" Thundertron asked.

"The servant performed flawlessly. In vehicular and robot mode." Cannonball reported.

"Excellent." Thundertron smirked.

In the Decepticon base…

"The Star Seekers abducted Bulkhead. And by all indications, deconstructed him from cranial chamber to heel strut." Knock Out proclaimed.

"I was there." Breakdown reminded.

"And we know that more recently, they obtained Grimlock's T-Cog." Starscream added.

"Which they evidently installed in a knockoff of Prime." Airachnid piped in.

"Which, in turn, scanned an appropriate vehicle form." Shockwave went on.

"Fill the tank with energon." Jack added.

"And say hello to Nemesis Prime." Miko finished.

"Hum, that's a good name for him." Knock Out remarked.

"So where do we start? Those pirates base could be anywhere." Silas pointed out.

"Not necessarily. While Thundertron may have learned much of our biology." Shockwave began.

"They haven't necessarily absorbed our technology. Without access to a ground bridge and with their warship hidden to avoid detection, Nemesis Prime would rely solely on its vehicle mode for transportation." Soundwave explained.

"Chances are that Thundertron's base is within driving distance of both incidents." Starscream concluded.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's get out there and mash that pirate little science project!" Silas cried.

"Agent Silas, I do not think it is advisable to put yourself in harm's way of Nemesis again." Megatron protested.

"Well, I'm not sure it is advisable for Cons to be running on recon with the military out there mistaking you with Bots!" Silas retorted.

"We will maintain vehicular cover until absolutely necessary." Megatron promised.

"Well, all of this would be worst if we were dealing with an evil clone of Megatron." Miko said.

"Yeah, that would be a real mess." Jack agreed.

At night, the Decepticons began to looking to the Star Seekers's hideout in near places to the attacks.

"Nothing but rocks here." Breakdown reported.

"Just a whole lot of empty." Airachnid said searching in other place.

"I don't see anything right here." Shockwave reported too.

"Just nothing, like it's gone." Knock Out reported driving on one road.

"( **I'm getting inside a populated area.** )" Stinger reported driving towards a town.

"Stinger, proceed with upmost caution. Reconnaissance only. We will rendezvous at your coordinates." Megatron instructed through the com-link.

Stinger entered in an industrial area, but he was detected by the Star Seekers security cameras.

"I'm impressed, I was expecting that the Autobots were the ones looking for their leader's impostor. But it's seems that the Decepticons are more persistent. Time to meet their match." Thundertron smirked looking Stinger through the screen before nodded at Cannonball.

Immediately, Cannonball summoned Nemesis Prime.

"There are intruders inside the complex. Find them and neutralize them." Thundertron ordered.

"Affirmative." Nemesis answered.

Stinger transformed into his robot form before looking cautiously around the area. As he continued walking, he heard some footsteps near to him, but when he turned around, Nemesis punched him, turned him out. Moments later, the rest of the team arrived.

"Stinger, do you read?" Shockwave asked through the com-link, earning no response. "This was the last position where Stinger reported. Their base must be inside here, anywhere."

"Spread out?" Airachnid suggested, making everyone to pull out their weapons.

"And beware of anything that might resemble Optimus." Megatron warned.

Everyone separated in different directions. Breakdown and Knock Out walked through the area, without notice a familiar shadow behind them. Knock Out turned back to see nothing.

"What's up?" Breakdown asked.

"Nothing. I just believed that someone was following us." Knock Out answered.

Then something dragged Breakdown inside the shadows and fought him. Breakdown managed to punch Nemesis a couple of times, but he made him fall unconscious. Knock Out managed to hit him with his electrified staff from behind, but he widened his eyes seeing that Nemesis didn't fall, before he turned him out too. Airachnid leaned against a plant bunker wall when she heard the sound of a charging gun. After Nemesis knocked her out, Nemesis received a great hit coming from Shockwave, who managed to fire at him in his tank form, forcing Nemesis to get cover. Shockwave decided to bomber all the possible hiding places with hope of hit him. After the smoke cleared, Shockwave believed Nemesis was gone, but then he heard an engine noise from behind him. He turned around to see Nemesis driving at him before he transformed and punched him in the air. Meanwhile, the remaining Decepticons were working at base.

"That's it, Soundwave. If we can isolate the control frequency of the remote link Thundertron is employing, we should be able to pinpoint his exact location." Starscream declared as Soundwave was working on the computers.

"Remote link?" Raf repeated in confusion.

"You didn't think the Star Seekers possessed the ability to build a completely autonomous robot, did you? New cybertronians can only be born from the Allspark, or be created by a good cybertronian scientist, who I don't believe it can be anyone of Thundertron's crew." Starscream explained.

"I was hoping Nemesis would be a simple armor which Thundertron could be operating from inside. Because one punch from Breakdown or an electric hit of Knock Out in all the face and BOO YA! BLEUH!" Miko said as she flew over before getting up, much to everyone's amusement.

"Frequency isolated." Soundwave suddenly reported.

"Then reopen that bridge." Silas instructed.

"Agent Silas, did you not hear lord Megatron advice against your involvement? It's for your own safety!" Starscream objected.

"Look commander. I don't plan on fighting with any robots. But those pirates believe that they are dealing with you only, so they will not expect me, so I can sneak through their lines. And in case you haven't noticed, I am a highly-trained, government-grade human." Silas retorted.

"Yeah. Plus Thundertron tried to run him off the road. It's personal." Miko added.

"Ugh, alright then. In that case, I'm coming with you, so I'll handle the Star Seekers while you try to sabotage their center of operations. Soundwave, main the ground bridge. And make sure that Miko don't try to follow us this time." Starscream instructed.

"Affirmative." Soundwave nodded.

At the same time on the industrial place, Megatron prepared his fusion cannon before walking around a corner a saw Nemesis Prime in front of him.

"Megatron, we meet again. Of course, not in person." Thundertron spoke through Nemesis.

"The deception ends here, Thundertron." Megatron declared as he aimed his cannon at him.

"Does it?" Thundertron asked.

Both robots began to run against each other firing with their guns before clash. Near them, a ground bridge opened as Silas and Starscream came through it.

"Are you okay?" Starscream asked Silas seeing him groaned and putting a hand over his mouth.

"I think I'm going to toss the breakfast I ate back at flight school." Silas answered, making Starscream chuckle a little.

Then they heard a loud clang and turn to see Megatron slam into one of the domes. Nemesis tried to attack him once again, but Megatron grabbed him by the hands and pushed him back.

"Starscream, the control frequency is transmitting from a structure 100 meters due north." Soundwave reported through the com-link.

"Understood. We are on our way!" Starscream said looking a structure with lights.

Meanwhile, Megatron and Nemesis started a sword clash duel. Megatron managed to kick Nemesis, sending him flying towards a set of power chords which exploded as Megatron covered his face from the explosion. A Star Seeker sniper was looking the battle from a dome, when suddenly someone touched him from behind, he turned around and saw Starscream before he sliced him with his claws, killing him.

"Now how we get inside?" Silas asked noticing that was no entrance.

"Leave it to me." Starscream answered as he started slicing the wall, creating an entrance.

"Nice one." Silas smirked as he started to climb down through a cable while Starscream used his jet engine to descend very slowly.

Once inside, they saw Thundertron seeing the match between Megatron and Nemesis, with Cannonball next to him. Inside the battle, Nemesis started punching Megatron.

"My new elite soldier possesses all Optimus strengths, speed and firepower." Thundertron said as Nemesis fired at Megatron, only to him to tackle him, but he recovered fast. "Add the extensive combat training of a Prime and the Star Seekers has clearly achieved the perfect soldier, one unstoppable."

"Yeah, but there is one thing you are missing, Thundertron. I battled Optimus many more times that you believe. I'm an expert in fighting the last of the Primes. This replica of him is easier." Megatron declared as he fired his cannon at Nemesis, forcing him to climb up a pole to the top of the dome.

Megatron followed him to the top. The two robots started another sword duel, but then Nemesis stabbed Megatron.

"But the key difference between this one and Optimus, my Prime can't feel pain." Thundertron revealed as Nemesis stabbed more deep in Megatron, making him cry in pain as he collapsed onto his knees. "And this is just the beginning; imagine an army of transforming artificial cybertronians, totally loyal and unstoppable. No one will stand against the newly rebooted Star Seekers." Thundertron declared with an evil smile.

"Think again, captain." Starscream smirked as he walked towards him.

Thundertron turned around to see Starscream in front of him, with Cannonball knock out next to him.

"Commander Starscream, in the flesh at last." Thundertron smirked.

"And I'm pulling the plug on your video game!" Starscream decreed charging at him.

Thundertron tried to fire at him with his cannons, but the Seeker evaded easily the shots before tried to slice him, but Thundertron evaded him too before punching him in the back.

"Ex-gladiator?" Starscream noticed.

"And special combat skills." Thundertron remarked. "And yours?"

Thundertron charged at him again, but Starscream dodged it before punching him in the chest and kick him on the back.

"Familiar training." Starscream answered.

"That's not official." Thundertron objected.

"Sometimes personal things can be the ones which can save you in a fight." Starscream declared before he flew with his jet engine and tackled Thundertron to the ground. "I know how you dragged in renegade Autobots and some of our kind, and you are going to pay for that!"

Before Starscream could slice his face, Thundertron grabbed his hand and pushed him back.

"Now I see why Megatron named you his second in command, not only by your military skills. But if you think you can engage a true fighter… think again." Thundertron declared, pulling out from his back a very elegant sword.

The two robots continued fighting as agent Silas sneaked through the shadows, going for the control panel. After blocking the sword's swings a couple of times, Thundertron took down Starscream as many Star Seeker troopers surrounded him, aiming their weapons.

"You will be an excellent trophy for me, and a warning to any Decepticon who dare to engage us in the future." Thundertron said putting his foot over Starscream and raising his sword to strike.

"Do you think you have won?" Starscream said with a smile, leaving Thundertron confused.

"We just needed to buy Megatron a little time." Silas said from the control panel.

Seeing that Nemesis was still, Megatron took his chance and tried to punch him. Thundertron tried to reactivate his control remote device, but it didn't work, meaning that Silas hacked it. Megatron managed to hit Nemesis on his face many times.

"No, no, no! Respond!" Thundertron cursed, trying to recover the control, while Starscream neutralized the other Star Seekers with his missiles.

Megatron jumped and gave the final blow to Nemesis, creating a hole on the ceiling, making it fell over Thundertron.

"No, I will not be denied!" Thundertron cursed as the only thing he saw was Nemesis Prime falling over him.

Starscream grabbed Silas and got out of the way. They approached Nemesis, who was still operational.

"If Optimus find this, I don't know what he could do with him. It is better that Nemesis Prime will remain in oblivion." Starscream declared aiming a missile at Nemesis, firing and destroying his head.

"Starscream, agent Silas?" Megatron said from the ceiling.

"Mission accomplished, lord Megatron. Nemesis Prime has fallen. And Thundertron with him." Starscream reported.

Then they heard helicopter sounds. Megatron looked over to see military helicopters coming their way.

"That would be our boys. I'd advise you to get back to base, Megatron. I'll handle the situation here from now." Silas said as Starscream put him on the ground.

Megatron nodded as he and Starscream left the area before taking a last view of Nemesis.

"You know what, my liege? We could have captured Nemesis and managed to free him from Thundertron's control, and made him join us. That way, we could have had a great new member in our team, and maybe you could have recovered the brother that you lost long ago, or something similar." Starscream told with deep reflection.

"Thank you, Starscream. Indeed it could have been an alternative and better way to resolve this, but after all that happened I think we did the right thing. Besides, that could not be possible, because Nemesis didn't have a real spark." Megatron clarified.

"Well, we had to give him some hope." Starscream said

"Indeed, my friend." Megatron said before they transformed and left.

At next day, everyone was recovering inside base.

"So how weird was it to see someone looking exactly like Optimus kicking the scrap out of you?" Miko asked.

"Whew." Breakdown whistled.

"Very logical." Shockwave answered.

"What?! Really?!" Miko asked in disbelief.

"We fought Optimus other times, Miko. That's why is not strange to us." Airachnid explained.

"Oh, I see." Miko said.

"The question remains: whether the Star Seekers will continue to function as we know them, without their leader." Megatron stated as he placed his arm down after Knock Out repaired the wound of his side.

"Well, here's a kicker. We've sifted through the wreckage with a fine toothcomb. We found Nemesis's remains, but couldn't find any trace of Thundertron." Silas reported through the com-link, leaving everyone in confusion.

Meanwhile, aboard the Tidal Wave, all the main Star Seekers were on the medical room where there was someone lying on a medical berth, in very critical condition: Thundertron.

"It's a shame I wasn't there. I could have ripped the spark of all those Cons!" Sandstorm cursed.

"So, what's the damage?" Axer asked.

"The internal damage to his spark is massive and beyond the scope of conventional medicine. Fortunately for our leader, we have knowledge more than conventional." Cannonball reported, as they observed some pieces from a certain offline robot next to them.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter Thirty Five- Rising Armadas**

Grimlock was walking in the middle of nowhere, very upset.

"I wish I still have my alt mode to go faster. And I miss hunting." Grimlock groaned before he located what he was looking for. "At last, just as I left it: the Harbinger. Things are finally looking up."

He entered the ship, but its inside was totally a mess. The Dinobot started looking through the wreckage, but he found nothing useful, so he hit some wreckage in fury.

"Raagh! Really?! Not a single scrap of energon!" He roared before he noticed something on the floor. "Wait. These footprints are recent. Someone was here, or still here." He said putting out his sword.

He started searching the ship in case of possible survivors, Autobots or Decepticons. Next to a corner he heard something, so he hid next to the corner and waited for something to come. A couple of minutes later, he heard some footsteps coming towards him, so he waited when the sound was near enough to attack. Then he charged to the corner and tackles another big green bot and smashed him to the ground.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Grimlock demanded as grabbed the bot by his neck and aimed his sword.

"Give it all you got, Con!" The other bot responded.

"I'll not ask you again! Who are you!?" Grimlock asked again.

The other bot didn't answer, but after a couple of seconds struggling he became silence when he saw Grimlock's face. "Grimlock?"

"Did I know you?" Grimlock asked interested.

"Grimlock, don't you recognize me? It's me!" The bot argued.

Grimlock thought of that until he recognized his voice.

"Swoop? It's that you?" Grimlock asked in surprised as the bot nodded. "Ha, it's good to see you make out of Cybertron! What are you doing here?" Grimlock asked as he helped out Swoop.

"After the mess we made on Cybertron we manage to grab a ship and land here, looking for a safe spot. And fortunately I'm not alone." Swoop said pointing at one hall where other giant bots appeared.

"Boss! It good to see you!" The white and red bot said.

"Me too, Slag." Grimlock greeted.

"I told you no one could kill him, Snarl." The purple and green bot remarked.

"I never said that, Sludge." The grey and purple bot argued.

"We miss you so much, boss." The red bot said, named Slash.

"It's good to see that all Dinobots made it. But why are you looking a little weird?" Grimlock asked, not recognizing the other Dinobots' appearance.

"Oh this, well, let say is some kind of improvement." Sludge said looking his body.

"When we arrive here, we discovered an ancient cybertronian ship buried under the Harbinger. When we explored it, we found some kind of armor and ancient weaponry. Must be the ship of ancient cybertronian knights, so we decided to improve ourselves and our alt modes ( **Dinobots' appearances of Age of Extinction.** ). And this improvement has bonded us together." Slash explained before he transformed into a cybertronian Velociraptor with metal feathers.

Swoop turned into a cybertronian Pteranodon; Slag turned into a cybertronian Triceratops, Snarl changed into a cybertronian Stegosaurus and Sludge alt mode was a cybertronian Apatosaurus.

"Impressive." Grimlock said.

"Now with these improvements we can truly achieve total victory for the Autobots." Slag remarked.

"Not so fast, Slag. We are not in the mood anymore." Grimlock objected.

"What? What do you mean, Grimlock?" Snarl asked.

Grimlock explained them all what happened to him during his presence on Earth.

"So Optimus has expelled us from the Autobots?!" Slag roared furiously.

"And now he considered us traitors. So that means we cannot trust anyone who was before our ally." Slash observed.

"No one tried to kill a Dinobot and live to tell it!" Swoop cheered. "So what are we going to do?"

"We are going to kill Optimus Prime for this humiliation, reclaim what is ours and defeat all the Decepticons so we can rule over this world." Grimlock said sinisterly.

"We are with you in this, Grimlock." Sludge said.

"And now that we are stronger than before nobody can stop us." Snarl said.

"When you upgraded yourself too, Optimus will need a lot of backup to stand against you." Slag added.

"That could be a problem." Grimlock objected.

"What?" Slash asked.

"I can't change form. Those treacherous Star Seekers stole my T-Cog, leaving me without all my power." Grimlock explained.

"Then those traitors will pay too." Slag cursed.

"Don't worry boss. The Harbinger has a lot of medical and scientific instrumental, so we can use it to make you hole again." Slash pointed.

"Those are very good news." Grimlock said.

"And that's not the only thing we discovered." Swoop said slamming the wall.

That made a door open, revealing a secret room.

"A laboratory." Grimlock said as he and the other Dinobots entered.

"And it's functional. But that it's not the best." Slash said pressing a button on the computer.

Then a light flashed on one body.

"A protoform." Snarl said.

"Hum, that gave me an idea." Grimlock smiled.

Meanwhile, very far from there, Breakdown was driving down the road in a common patrol. Suddenly, his terminal detected something.

"Breakdown to base, I picked up a strong reading. Better going check it out." He said as he changed his route.

Meanwhile, inside the Harbinger…

"You think you can do it?" Grimlock asked.

"Let's see. Transference of binary bonding, submolecular infusion. The formula seems straight forward enough. Looks like it's ripe for the molding." Slash reported.

"Let's give cloning a whirl, shall we?" Grimlock said looking to the other Dinobots.

Breakdown reached to a crater in the ground as he turned back to his robot form.

"Well, no sign of activity." Breakdown said as he started to climb down the hole.

At the same time, in the Harbinger's lab, Slash extracted some of Grimlock's energon and inserted it in the fusion chamber. The machine scanned his CNA and sparks began to glow around the room while Grimlock laughed maniacally.

"Give us life!" Swoop shouted pulling a lever.

Then the protoform began to change, until it transformed into another Grimlock.

"It looks perfectly equal as you, Grimlock. Like a twin." Slag observed.

"Exactly." Grimlock smirked.

Breakdown continued climbing down until he saw the bottom, with a pile of energon cubes.

"Energon. Boxed and ready for pick up." He said.

But then a shadow covered the hole. Breakdown looked up to see that was the Autobot warship, getting down to claim the energon.

"Scrap." Breakdown cursed.

He tried to climb faster to the bottom, but he took a wrong step and fell, landing on the energon. He fall unconscious as the Ark used it's elevator to pick up the energon and getting it inside. Meanwhile, Grimlock decided to approach his clone and talk.

"Esteemed members of my order. You now stand upon the very presences of glory. To show all who are the best warriors ever existed. And meet the destiny which I am truly worthy." Grimlock told in front of everyone raising his sword.

"Dynamic leadership of the Autobots." The clone finished.

"What did you said?" Grimlock asked confused. "Slash, what is the meaning of this?!"

"I don't know. It is assumed that this clone is a true resemblance of you."

"Yeah, but why it speaks just like Grimlock?" Sludge asked.

"Because, dear Dinobots, your highness and I are as one. I share his memories, his very feelings, even his sensational quest for power." The clone explained sinisterly.

"Hpm." Grimlock said, suspecting of the clone.

Moments later, all the Dinobots, including Grimlock's clone were walking outside the ship.

"Fortunately, I managed to connect the Harbinger's tracking system to the Autobot network, so now its sync to Optimus's warship." Slash explained.

"But we still need a way to reaching the ship." Snarl added.

"We'll set a trap. We will ask for a ground bridge as an answer for a distress call that will allow you and my double to reach the Ark. And once you're inside, you must find and snuff Optimus cursed spark and anyone who stand in your way." Grimlock ordered.

"We will make the call in a perfect area. I will scout ahead to find the proper place for the ambush." Swoop suggested as he transformed and flew away.

"We will accomplish your mission, Grimlock." Sludge remarked.

"Dinobots, transform and roar!" Grimlock ordered as all the Dinobots changed to their dinosaur forms and went to the same direction Swoop departed.

On the Autobot warship, the Autobot soldiers detected a distress signal requesting a ground bridge. Even when they summoned one, a group of commandos aimed their weapons in case there was an enemy. One of them entered to see who asked for help, but after a couple of seconds, it came through the vortex, dead. That put the others on guard when a metal arrow came through the vortex and killed one of the commandos. Then all the Dinobots crossed the vortex and started killing them. Grimlock's clone used his sword, Swoop used a sword and his crossbow, Slag used two swords, Snarl used axes, Sludge used a big hammer and Slash used two retractable blades. They managed to kill all the Autobots in a few seconds.

"We're still the bests." Swoop said proudly.

"Dinobots, spread out and keep to the shadows." Grimlock's clone ordered.

"Hey, don't forget you are not the real Grimlock." Sludge remarked.

"Any every one of us is a completely unknown aboard this warship. We should eliminate all the Autobots we found." Slag suggested.

"But if we revealed our position, we will sacrifice the element of surprise." Snarl remembered.

"Whoever manages to find Optimus first, report your position, and we'll prepare the ambush." Slash said.

Then all Dinobots separated and went by different paths. Meanwhile, in that time, Breakdown woke up surrounded by a lot of energon boxes.

"Oh my head. What the…?! The Bots's warship?" He asked in surprise before he nearly dropped by the hole nearby, when he could see that the ship was already in the sky. "Soundwave, don't ask how I got here. Long story." He said through the com-link, but he received nothing more than static. "Soundwave, you copy? Oh scrap."

Breakdown slowly walked out of the room.

"Stealthy, stealthy." He told himself nervously.

Suddenly he heard some footsteps coming from the next hall: it was a couple of Autobot soldiers. He tried to go back into the room, but the door closed in front of his face. Breakdown remained still as the Bots walked by, without looking at him. Breakdown continued walking, looking back in case they return, until he bumped into someone and turned around with his turret activated the same as the other bot.

"A Dinobot?" Breakdown asked in disbelief.

"Why is it that every time we return to our old stomping grounds we find a Decepticon roaming the halls?" Slash asked in irritation.

"Don't tell me your kind came crawling back to Prime." Breakdown growled.

"After what he did to our leader? Ha! Never. Now out of my way!" Slash snapped as he went to out of the way.

"Wait, you've gotta show me the way off this boat." Breakdown pleaded.

"Sorry, too busy." Slash said.

"Look, when your boss needed help…" Breakdown began in anger.

"As he recalled us, you bartered! So…unless you have anything of value to offer me, step aside!" Slash yelled.

"The exit, now!" Breakdown demanded in anger.

"Our boss may have giving Airachnid a free pass when they last met!" Slash said before slashing Breakdown's chest with his close combat weapons. "But I won't hesitate to skewer you as Grimlock did a certain Steve!"

Breakdown looked to the scar Slash made to him, so he ran to Slash in rage and slammed him with his hammer.

"Perish, Breakdown." Slash said when he recovered and drew out his lasers.

But Breakdown jumped on him first as he hit him with his hammer again. Meanwhile, at the Harbinger, Grimlock was waiting, now with his body changed by the upgrades ( **Grimlock's look of Age of Extinction** )…

"I cannot wait to savor the vivid details of Optimus's demise." Grimlock said walking around, when suddenly his body jolted and felt pain. "What is happening?"

That pain was the same Slash was feeling as Breakdown continued to smashing him with his hammer.

"This is for Steve! For Stinger! For everything." Breakdown said sinisterly before he takes out Slash's life, the same time when Grimlock was on his knees screaming in pain.

"When Slash mentioned that this upgrades allowed us to be connected I never imagine that I could feel their agony! Poor Slash, they will pay, whatever killed you." Grimlock cursed.

"You had leaved me no choice." Breakdown said after finish with the Dinobot.

He quickly hid Slash's body before he looked to a terminal.

"A comm unit." He immediately began to press buttons, expecting one of them allowed him to contact base. "Breakdown to base, do you read? Do you copy?" But there was no response. "Stupid Bot tech. Is this thing even on?!"

Then the terminal began to release a screeching noise, one that even the Autobots noticed.

"What's that?" Bumblebee asked.

"One of our communication units has been manipulated. Is sending a distress signal from inside the ship." An Autobot trooper reported.

"It could be a malfunction mistake." Bulkhead suggested.

"Or a sabotage. Sent all squadrons to investigate that signal, I will meet with them." Wheeljack ordered as he went to investigate.

A lot of Autobots went to investigate the signal too. Fortunately, Breakdown pressed a button, causing the noise to stop, and he sighed in relief. But then he heard footsteps coming down the hall, so he hid.

"Everything seems too normal right now." Wheeljack said arriving with some troops.

But then they saw Snarl in front of them in the other side of the hall. He immediately ran away.

"Hey you, hall!" Wheeljack said following him with the other Autobots while Breakdown saw them walking away, allowing him to remain hidden.

But what he made on the terminal sent a distress signal, one that was caught by a certain Autobot helicopter.

"An Autobot beacon. Finally."

It was Sandstorm, who was flying towards the cave where was hidden the Insectobot hive.

"I wish I could unleash my wrath of vengeance on the ones who made you a lot of hurt, captain. But if with this I can achieve the Autobots's demise and calm your mind, so be it." Sandstorm said walking towards the cave's entrance. "Devoted servants, the time has come for the ultimate retribution!" He said as he did some commands on his terminal.

Inside the cave, the Insectobots began to wake up. That was noticed too in the Decepticon base.

"Megatron, no word yet from Breakdown. But I am detecting some rather curious subterranean frequencies." Soundwave reported.

"Of Earthly origin?" Starscream inquired.

"We do not yet know what they are. But we do know where." Shockwave reported as he typed in a few coordinates.

"The coordinates of which we last encounter Optimus." Megatron observed.

"And Sandstorm." Airachnid snarled.

"And Sandstorm's Insectobot." Knock Out piped in angry.

The Insectobots began to wake up from their pods.

"Arise, my armada, and attack!" Sandstorm ordered.

The Insectobots screeched as they transformed into their flying forms and flew to the exit of the cave. Sandstorm smirked before watching them fly out in thousands and made their way towards the Ark. In that moment, the Decepticons came through their ground bridge and saw them.

"Whoa, what is this all about?" Knock Out asked in confusion.

"We are in all likelihood witnessing the launch of a mission to terminate Optimus Prime." Megatron observed.

"I can't think of a reason to stop that. Even if we could." Starscream admitted.

"But we can stop Sandstorm." Megatron declared as he looked sown to see him.

All the Decepticons aimed their weapons at him, but he noticed that.

"Rear guard, engage the Decepticons." Sandstorm ordered.

Multiple Insectobots flew towards the Decepticons as they attacked. Sandstorm watched happy as a cloud of smoke formed, only to see Airachnid jumping towards him. He growled as he transformed into a tank and drive as fast as he could. Airachnid followed him in spider mode while the other Decepticons engaged the Insectobots. Meanwhile, Breakdown was crawling inside a tunnel of the Ark.

"Stealthy, stealthy." Breakdown whispered as he advanced, until he heard a voice.

"Lord Optimus Prime!" Ratchet's voice sounded through the com-link.

Breakdown looked over to see Optimus and Elita close to him.

"Yes Ratchet, what is it?" Optimus asked as they walked through the hallway.

"We have an intruder!" The medic reported.

"Decepticon?" Optimus asked, making Breakdown more nervous.

"Grimlock! Wheeljack has seen him in the vicinity of the bridge!" Ratchet answered.

"Go by the other hall, I will go right here." Optimus instructed Elita, she nodded and walked away as he turned around and walked away too.

Meanwhile, Airachnid was still chasing Sandstorm. He tried to hit her with his tank cannon, but she evaded all shots. In one moment she launched two missiles in her helicopter form at Sandstorm.

"No!" He yelled before the missiles hit him and launched him to the ground.

When Airachnid turned back to her robot form, she widened how Sandstorm desperately tried to get away by making a hole in the ground.

"Underground. My specialty." She said sarcastically as she prepared her spider mode and went after him.

At the same time, aboard the Ark, Optimus found a lot of dead Autobot troopers in his way to the bridge. By the appearances of the wounds, they were killed by brutal opponents. When he came inside the bridge with his gun ready, all the Autobots were dead too, and someone was on the center waiting for him.

"Optimus Prime, it has come time to settle old scores." Grimlock's clone said with an evil smile.

That made Optimus laugh. "Really, Grimlock? All on your own?"

"Actually, not totally on my own, by totally on everyone. A king is never really alone." The clone said as the moment all the Dinobots came from their hidings and surrounded the Autobot leader.

"So you have reunited all the Dinobots. Well played, Grimlock, if you have intention to make your minions to do all the dirty work." Optimus confessed a little surprised, but with an idea in mind.

"Minions?! We are a team!" Slag corrected.

"Yeah, we Dinobots need to stay together!" Swoop added.

"Now Dinobots…" The clone began, as him and all the Dinobots took out their melee combat weapons. "Let's show him what happens to those who mess with us."

In that moment Elita reached to the bridge, and stayed in shock to see all the Dinobots surrounded Optimus, but he wink an eye to her, so she understood what she needed to do.

"Instead of finishing me together, why do not you show me who is the strongest dinosaur?" Optimus proposed.

"What, what do you mean?" Snarl asked confused.

"Fight between all of you, and the survivor will be rewarded as my second in command. It could be any of you." Optimus vowed.

That caused confusion in all the Dinobots.

"No! You're trying to trick us!" Swoop cried.

"Am I?"

"Is he?" Snarl mused.

"Accept my proposal and we all win. Otherwise, you will merely end up fighting each other to be the only one strong beast. It is your instinct after all." Optimus smirked.

"Don't listen to him, Dinobots!" The clone warned.

"Grimlock's right, we're not going to fall into your trap, Prime." Sludge remembered.

"Prepare to perish at our hands." Snarl sneered.

"Yes, only our combine wrath will assure Optimus's destruction." Slag proclaimed.

"Are you sure of that?" A female voice said behind them.

Elita jumped over firing at them, forcing them to cover with their shields and landing next to Optimus.

"Ha, that changes nothing. Only allow us to crush the other Autobot leader. Now this is a real challenge." Grimlock's clone proclaimed as the other Dinobots changed into their dinosaur forms and began advancing towards the two Bots.

But then, a buzzy noise sound around them.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Sludge asked.

"Yeah, but for some reason it is familiar to me." Swoop admitted.

Breakdown heard the sound too. That was because the Insectobot swarm just arrived to the Ark.

"Ignore that. Charge at my mark! One, two…"

But before Grimlock's clone could finish, the ship shake.

"What was that?" Slag asked after he collapsed.

"The sound of the table turning." Elita said over him and starting to shot at him.

That made Slag to run on stampede all over the bridge, and allowing Optimus to engage the rest of the Dinobots. First he shot at Grimlock's clone, taking him down. Next Swoop tried to grab him by his claws, but Prime evaded him and cut through his wings, making him fall. Snarl tried to hit him with his tail's spikes, but Optimus dodged it very fast and jumped over him. When he stabbed his sword on his head, the Dinobot was dead. Sludge managed to hit him with his tail, but Elita saw that and forced Slag to charge against his pall, stabbing his horns into Sludge's body, killing him. Before he could react, Elita grabbed him by the tail and threw him and Swoop, who tried to get up. At the same time, Elita shot his cannon inside Slag's mouth and Optimus broke Swoop's mouth in two. All that made the real Grimlock to jolt by receiving a lot of pain.

"What's going on up there?!" He asked in disbelief.

The Insectobot swarm began to bombard a lot of lasers at the Ark. Meanwhile, Grimlock's clone was lying on the floor in pain.

"See what you have done, Grimlock? You forced me to annihilate the most powerful Autobots that ever existed. You had this in mind? Exterminating all your Dinobots has been very stimulating, but for you, Grimlock, your punishment will be worst." Optimus proclaimed as he and Elita approached towards the clone with their weapons at him.

But another shake allowed him to escape.

"Lord Optimus Prime, we had a problem." Bumblebee said through the com-link.

"Just tell us what is making those shakes!" Elita ordered.

"Is about that. We have a very big bug problem." Ratchet explained as the main screen showed the Insectobot swarm.

"Sandstorm. A busy day for assassins." Optimus remarked.

"I'm redirecting all the troops to the deck in order to engage the enemy." Ultra Magnus reported.

"Hand in there, we'll arrive in a few seconds." Optimus proclaimed as he and his sparkmate run to the battle.

Meanwhile, Starscream managed to hit with a missile the last Insectobot and allowing Megatron to crush it with his fist.

"Well, that was entertainment." Starscream admitted.

"Wait, we are not all." Knock Out observed.

"Airachnid." Megatron called out.

Talking about Airachnid, she was walking silently through the tunnels, heading to where the Insectobot swarm used to be, but Sandstorm was there, waiting for her in his helicopter form with his guns ready. Outside the Ark, the Autobots were holding their ground against the Insectobots, but they were losing it. Even when Optimus and Elita arrive and started taking them down, the fight was not going well for them. Meanwhile, Airachnid already arrived to the main chamber. Just before the Star Seeker began to firing missiles at her, she saw his reflection on one of the pods and got some cover. After more missed shot of her attacker, she returned fire and scored direct hits, because the rogue Autobot fell. He began to stand up when she stood before him.

"Now what? You're going to extinguish my spark and making it hurt a lot when I'm still alive?" Sandstorm teased.

"No, I'm not like Arcee." Airachnid snarled.

"Very well. Then I will do it!" Sandstorm swore as he charged at her.

Then she saw an Insectobot pod open, so an idea came to her mind. She blocked his attacks with her spider legs until she took the chance and kicked him, sending him on the pod. Then the pod activated.

"What?!"

He tried to escape, but Airachnid shot webs at him, stuck him to the pod.

"No!" He screamed before the pod closed with him inside.

He tried to get free, but he became frozen in the pod. The consequences of that duel arrived to the Ark when just when the Insectobots were ready to fight the Autobots in close combat, they suddenly stopped and transformed all into their original form, all around Optimus and his followers.

"Huh? Why have they stopped?" Bulkhead asked in confusion.

"I don't know, but it's like they don't want to keep fighting." Arcee noticed.

Then all the Insectobots vowed before them.

"This is good or is bad?" Cliffjumper asked.

"What do you think?" Ratchet remarked.

"Forgive us, great Optimus Prime, one true lord and master. The last of the Primes." All the Insectobots said in union.

"Sure that answers your question." Optimus said with a smile.

"This day has certainly seen its share of thwarted intentions." Elita remarked.

Meanwhile, Breakdown already arrived to a big room where there was a claw supplying energon to a big engine: that was the ship's main core room. Breakdown looked at it with attention.

"One way or another, I'm getting off this boat." Breakdown declared as he activated his hammer and jumped into the air before getting through the engine, causing all the ship to shake.

"Now what?!" Optimus demanded as the ship began to fall with smoke coming from its engines.

Breakdown reached to the hangar, just to meet with Grimlock next to him.

"Out of my way!" The Dinobot yelled before transforming and jumping out of the ship, leaving Breakdown confused.

Elita One arrived to the main bridge.

"My liege, our power core has been compromised." An Autobot soldier reported.

"Everyone, prepare for crash landing." She instructed.

The Ark crashed into the ground before slowing down near a ledge. As it did, Breakdown drove out in his vehicle form. At the night, the Decepticons transported Sandstorm's pod to their base.

"Stasis?!" Starscream said in surprise. "He deserves worse!"

"We all intended worse. More times than you know." Airachnid proclaimed.

"You were stronger for the choice you made." Shockwave said.

"I don't know if I could do the same against Arcee." She confessed.

"You will pass that path once it will arrive." Megatron proclaimed.

Then everyone heard a honking noise as they turned to see Breakdown driving into base before transforming.

"Guys, you are not going to believe the day I had!" Breakdown proclaimed.

"Well, you have lost our special party." Knock Out said pointing at the pod.

"You too, huh?" Breakdown asked.

Meanwhile, Grimlock's clone returned to the Harbinger. He transformed and entered the ship, a little hurt. In front of him was the real Grimlock.

"You highness, your most loyal warrior has returned, but I regret to inform you that our collective mission has failed." The clone said as he began to pull out his sword.

"Hm, yes. I got that sense. And you let the other Dinobots to die. Something to do with…a throbbing ache in my side!" Grimlock shouted as he threw a metal spear to his clone, hitting him to the center of his body.

The clone laid on the floor as Grimlock put his foot on him.

"You knew I was going to overthrow you?" The clone asked in disbelief with pain.

"Ugh, I feel your pain. Really I do." Grimlock said before he stabbed his sword on the clone, making him roar in pain. "Scrap, that hurts!"


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty Six- Living Ship**

The Autobot warship had landed hardly near a ledge because of a previous incident, so now all the Autobots were trying to analyze the situation and fix everything.

"Ratchet, damage report." Optimus ordered.

"We have suffered critical damage to all mayor systems, Optimus Prime. It will be some time before we can get the ship airborne."

"I'm still can't understand how this could happen. Do you believe it could be an accident?" Smokescreen asked.

"Very unlikely. A more possible explanation for all this damage can only be sabotage." Wheeljack deduced.

"Maybe the Dinobots put some explosives in some important parts of the ship." Cliffjumper suggested.

"Or maybe the ship's core could be hit by someone else we didn't expected." Arcee said.

"Blaster." Elita One said.

The silent Autobot showed a video from the main core, at the moment when Breakdown smashed into the core, causing an explosion. Blaster stopped the video and zoomed in so they could see well.

"So it was a Decepticon who crippled our vessel. They will move quickly to exploit any perceived weakness." She remarked.

"But I'm sure they're not foolish enough to launch a direct assault, master." Bee retorted.

"Megatron has grown decidedly more ruthless since our last encounter." Optimus proclaimed.

"At this rate, we will not be able to fix the entire ship before they could attack again." Ratchet reminded.

"And that's not the worst, because all the ship's weapons are disabled." Ultra Magnus added.

"Hm." Optimus said before he began to think in a solution, until an idea came to his mind, making him smirk. "I know how we can speed reparations."

Sometime later, Optimus, Elita and Ratchet were at the core room, next a lot of purple energon containers.

"Optimus, as your physician, I strongly advise against this! Dark energon's regenerative properties are impressive! But the side effects! There is no telling how it might impact the ship!" Ratchet protested.

"Are you sure about this, dear?" Elita asked a little worried.

"Dark energon courses through my veins. Infusing the warship will enable me to manipulate the craft as if we are one. And together, we shall crush Megatron." Optimus declared with his optics turned purple.

Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base, Breakdown was telling his adventure, even the kids were there.

"But when the Insectobots suddenly backed off, I got inspired by my proximity to the power core, and did what I do best." Breakdown smirked as he pounded his fist together.

"You trashed Prime's ride like a rock star in a hotel room." Miko cheered.

"We should hit the Bots right now while they're vulnerable." Airachnid declared as she and Stinger stepped forward.

"Optimus's warship maybe grounded, but let's not forget that we remain vastly outnumbered. Especially since he added that Insectobot hive to his ranks." Starscream reminded.

"Then maybe it's time for me to call in an air strike." Silas suggested.

"Or for us to consider more extreme measures, agent Silas." Megatron corrected.

Moments later, he and Shockwave stepped inside an opening vault which had a familiar object.

"The spark extractor? Megatron, are you certain you want to travel down this path?" Shockwave asked in surprise.

"While I am deeply reluctant to deploy a weapon of this caliber, especially one forged by Autobot hands, this may be our only chance to end the war, once and for all." Megatron declared.

On the Ark, a claw inserted the dark energon container in the power core, and Optimus pulled the activation lever. Then the dark energon made its way through the pipes as it changes in color of the ship's inside. The computers that the Autobot troopers worked at changed into red while the lights turned purple.

"Yes! I can feel it!" Optimus cheered.

"Everything seems to have worked out." Bulkhead said, making Ratchet to sigh.

That was noticed too in the Decepticon base.

"Megatron, massive energy spike detected at the Autobot crash site. It appears to be dark energon." Soundwave reported.

"Then we must get hurry." Starscream announced.

"I will come with you since there is dark energon's influence." Shockwave added.

"Okay. Soundwave, stay here and main the ground bridge." Megatron ordered.

"Affirmative."

Soundwave activated the ground bridge as everyone was ready.

"Decepticons, transform and rise up!" Megatron instructed.

All the Decepticons transformed and went through the portal, but before Megatron left…

"Hold on, Megatron." Silas called as Megatron looked at him. "If you are going to deploy some kind of super weapon in the final showdown with the Bots, it's my job as a representative of planet Earth to bear witness."

Megatron and Soundwave looked at each other. When Megatron and Silas crossed the portal before it closed, all got a bad surprise.

"My god." Silas said surprised.

The Ark was in the air again. Blaster showed Optimus the Decepticons's presence.

"Megatron, you never disappoint." Optimus smirked.

"All weapons back online and ready to fire." Ultra Magnus reported.

All the ship's weapons came out and aimed at the Decepticons.

"Stinger, now." Megatron ordered.

Stinger screeched his tires as he drove towards the Ark.

"Starscream, Shockwave, Breakdown, Airachnid, Knock Out, draw their fire." Megatron instructed as they all split.

That forced all the Ark's weapons (missiles, main guns, heavy cannons and laser turrets) to divide the fire where the Decepticons were going. Silas watched the situation through his binoculars: Stinger continued approaching to the Autobot warship.

"Once you launch the spark extractor, be sure to clear of its radius before it activates." Shockwave warned through the com-link.

Stinger changed to his robot form, with the spark extractor in hand and ran towards the Ark. Then, a satellite-shaped object emerged from the ship before charging and firing at Stinger. Stinger whirred as the shot hit him, causing him to crash and drop the spark extractor.

"Stinger!" Megatron called out.

"Lord Megatron, secure Stinger. I will finish the mission." Starscream advised as he flew towards the device.

But the strange turret fired again at Starscream, making him to make a crash landing in robot form.

"Mine!" Airachnid said as she grabbed the device with her webs and continued towards the ship, only for be taking down by the same kind of shot.

Inside the warship, everyone saw the results of the new weapon.

"I never realized the ship was equipped with a stasis beam." Wheeljack commented.

"Neither did I." Bee added.

Optimus didn't say anything, but he was no aware of that weapon either. The next one who grabbed the spark extractor was Knock Out, but he realized that the turret was going to fire at him.

"Hey buddy, yours!" Knock Out shouted to Breakdown.

He launched the weapon to him before the shot hit him in the back. Breakdown grabbed it, but the turret hit him too. Megatron began to worry for his teammates.

"Megatron, I will draw the beam's attention. Grab the extractor and use it as fast as you can!" Shockwave warned as he transformed into a tank and drove towards the device firing at the ship.

The turret fired at Shockwave, who evaded the beam and forced it to follow him. That allowed Megatron to grab the spark extractor, just when the beam hit Shockwave. Decided to not let their sacrifices to be in vain, Megatron transformed into his jet form and flew towards the Ark, evading all the turret's beams. But when he changed back to his robot form, prepared to activate the device, the turret anticipated his movement and hit him in the chest. He fell to the floor, still with his eyes open, like if he was frozen. Then Silas saw how the ship's turrets aimed at him.

"I have a bad feeling about this." He said, expecting the worst.

But he was confused when all the weapons stopped charging and went back into the ship. The Ark's cameras zoomed into the spark extractor, lying next to Megatron.

"The spark extractor! Guide us closer so that I may collect what belongs to me, and destroy the Decepticons!" Optimus ordered.

But then the computers started beeping as a code appeared on the screen and the navigation system looked onto some coordinates. Silas saw how the Autobot warship began to change course.

"Team's down. Requesting medical evacuation." Silas reported through his communicator.

Everyone noticed that aboard too.

"What?! Where are you going? I said closer!" Optimus yelled.

"Lord Prime, the ship seems navigating itself." An Autobot pilot reported.

"Override!"

The pilot tried, but the only response was a negative buzz and a shake. Seeing that nothing had changed, Optimus looked at the pilot with anger.

"The systems are bypassing manual control…" The pilot said until a bolt of electricity generated from the terminal and deactivated him.

"It's dead. A massive override has fried his circuits." Ratchet said checking his body. "And it's seems that it came from the terminal."

"How is that possible?" Arcee asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I dare say that this ship now possess a will of its own." Smokescreen deduced.

"Wait, you are saying that the ship is the one who do this?" Bulkhead asked, a little nervous.

"Impossible! Trace the problem to its source and fix it!" Optimus ordered.

" **Do not tamper with my systems! This will be your only warning!** " A grave voice said.

"Warning?" Elita asked.

" **My mission assumes priority. Any cybertronian who interferes will be neutralized!** " The voice said.

"My one vessel dares to address me in threatening tones?!" Optimus yelled in disbelief.

Blaster pointed out to one of the computers, which it displayed a set of coordinates.

"It also seems to being decoding the Iacon database better than us." Bumblebee noticed.

"Right, it's already deciphered a new set of coordinates." Cliffjumper added.

Blaster displayed the coordinates on his face's visor.

"And judging by our current course, that is precisely where the ship is heading." Ultra Magnus observed.

"As I desire. You see? This warship is nothing more than an extension of my very will." Optimus proclaimed proudly.

" **Your will is nothing! The Iacon artifact will belong to me!** " The voice said.

"I am Optimus Prime! I command you decease operations!" Optimus ordered.

" **You are no longer in command.** " The voice said.

Then the ship sent a high-pitch frequency into Optimus's head, making him to scream in pain.

"Optimus! Are you alright?!" Elita asked worried.

Optimus began to stand up when it stopped. "Regain control of this vessel. By any means necessary."

Blaster attempted to hack in with his tentacles, but he was immediately shocked into stasis.

"It appears this vessel is not going down without a fight." Wheeljack said.

"All hands, cut power to the mainframe and disconnects data relays, now!" Optimus ordered.

All Autobots ran to obey their leader's orders. Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers went through one way to the power core, but a wall of stasis beams appeared and advanced towards them, frozen them in contact. Elita and Arcee went through another hall with a squadron of Autobot troops, but another wall of beams caught them. Bee, Cliff and Smokey went by another way with Autobot troops of all kinds, but another wall forced them to retreat, until they arrived to a dead end, without a way to escape they saw the beams approaching them before screaming and making funny moves (Cliff tried to escapes through the ventilation ducts and got stuck, Bee put his hands in front trying to protect himself and Smokey simply covered his eyes). The Insectobot hive tried too, but they were caught too, the same as all the other Autobots of the ship. Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base, the kids looked worried at their friends, still like statues, while Soundwave was analyzing them.

"They're alive. But I've never encountered this form of stasis lock." He confessed looking at the scans.

"The Bots are crossing the Atlantic, making a beeline for North America." Silas announced.

"Wait. We can track them?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Why aren't they cloaked, like usual?" Raf asked.

"None of this makes a little sense. They had us in a crosshairs, but the Bots just took off." Silas recalled.

"They even bailed on that spark extractor thingy!" Miko piped in.

"If the ship isn't cloaked, maybe the communication relay's open, and…" Jack suggested.

"Wait! Are you suggesting calling Optimus Prime to ask what's happening up there?" Soundwave asked puzzled.

The kids responded by shrugging, so Soundwave looked to agent Silas who shrugged as well. Soundwave didn't respond, instead he went to the command table. Meanwhile, on the Ark, Ratchet got inside Megatronus old work station and saw appear another set of coordinates.

"Optimus, the computer has decrypted a second set of coordinates. Perhaps we could permit it to continue." Ratchet suggested, before another stasis turret emerged from the ceiling and shot him in the back.

" **I do not require permission!** " The vessel answered.

At the base, Soundwave was trying to contact with the Ark.

"Decepticon Outpost Alpha One to Autobot warship. Optimus Prime, please respond." Soundwave requested into the com-link, earning no response.

At the same time, Optimus sprinted until he reached to the power core. He grabbed the lever to reverse the energon infuser.

"This mutiny ends now!" He said before another stasis turret fired at him.

In the Decepticon base…

"Optimus!" Soundwave called again.

Then a communication entrance sounded.

" **Optimus Prime has been relieved of his command.** " A voice said.

"Who is this?" Soundwave demanded.

" **Who is this?!** " The voice repeated.

"Have you taken control of the Autobot vessel?" Soundwave asked calmly.

" **I am the vessel. Any cybertronian who interferes with my mission will be neutralized.** " The vessel warned before he showed them some pictures of the Autobots frozen in place.

"What mission?" Soundwave asked.

" **Priority one: decrypt Iacon database and recover Autobot technology.** " The vessel explained.

"For what purpose?" Soundwave questioned.

There was a silence before the Ark disconnected itself from the Decepticon base.

"It hung up?! Rude!" Miko remarked.

"Rude?! There's a giant spaceship flying around collecting Autobot weapons of mass destruction!" Silas retorted.

"A giant spaceship filled with neutralized Autobots." Jack reminded.

"Point?" Silas demanded.

"This could be our only chance to slip aboard and download the Iacon database." Jack pointed out.

"So you guys can decode it!" Raf added.

"Ingenious. I will infiltrate the Ark." Soundwave congratulated.

"Not ingenious. You saw what it did to the Autobots." Jack reminded.

"Probably Optimus too." Raf added.

"And our team of Cons." Miko added.

"But that thing had its guns pointing at me, and I'm still breathing." Silas pointed.

"The ship may be blind to humans." Jack realized.

Since Soundwave was the only remaining Decepticon, it was his decision.

"Very well agent Silas, but at the first sight of trouble, I will bridge you right back here. Now, in order to download the database, you will need a compatible transfer drive." Soundwave said as he grabbed a cybertronian size flash-drive and gave it to him.

"A what?" He asked as he handled the drive.

"You'll also need tech support." Raf said.

"And backup." Miko added.

"Affirmative." Soundwave supported. "Be careful."

And so, Jack, Miko, Raf and agent Silas arrived to the Ark by the ground bridge.

"Silas to base, we're in." Silas said through the com-link as the portal disappeared.

"Copy that. Their data core should be accessible from any console." Soundwave answered.

The humans made it through lots of frozen Autobots, until they reached to an intersection, with Ratchet at the end, near to a console.

"Here's one." Raf said a little nervous.

Miko approached Ratchet and hit him on the foot a couple of times, without response.

"Doctor of Doom is knocked out." She said.

"Look, the ship has decoded two sets of Iacon coordinates." Raf observed.

Then another group of letters joined the other two.

"Three." Raf corrected. "Let's rip and run."

As the same he climbed over Ratchet, Silas helped Raf to get on the console.

"There's the port." Raf said pointing it.

Silas inserted the drive, beginning the downloading. Meanwhile, something caught Jack's attention on another screen.

"Uh, why is the warship heading to Manhattan?" He asked in confusion.

"Because that's where the first set of coordinates are located." Raf realized.

"What would a relic from Cybertron be doing in the Big Apple?" Silas asked.

"The Iacon relics landed on Earth eons ago, agent Silas. Long before the city was built on top of it." Soundwave explained through the com-link.

Which means if the ship wants this one… it might have to move some buildings out of the way." Jack realized.

"Our mission just got complicated. How do we stop this ship?" Silas asked.

"I would advise disabling the navigation module. Call up the main navigation manual." Soundwave suggested.

"There." Raf pointed.

"Step aside, son." Silas said putting a hand in front of him.

Silas walked to the button and pressed it, but immediately an electric current zapped him, making him swayed a little before he fell to the ground.

"Agent Silas!" Jack cried as the kids saw Silas unconscious.

" **System access detected. Interference will not be tolerated.** " The ship's voice suddenly warned.

"There." Raf pointed at a camera on the ceiling.

" **Reveal yourself!** " It said looking at the responsible.

The camera only scanned Ratchet before trying to look at anyone, but it passed the kids.

"It doesn't see us." Miko cheered.

"Correct. The ship must not be scanning for carbon based lifeforms, but once it widens its search parameters…" Soundwave began.

"We're toast." Raf finished.

"I'm bridging you back." Soundwave declared.

"No." Jack objected. "There are millions of lives at stake on New York and we three are currently the only ones who can do anything about it."

"You're out of your element, Jack. These readings, the ship's rapid recovery, all pointed out that Optimus employed dark energon to repair it." Soundwave concluded.

"Hold on. If you're saying the ship is fueled by dark energon, we can dump it, right?" Jack suggested.

"Hm… you will need to reverse the warship's energon infuser. For that, follow the main overhead conduits. They'll lead you to the power core." Soundwave instructed them.

The kids passed through a lot of frozen Autobots until they arrived to the power core. After pass some piles of energon cubes, they were surprised to see who was there, frozen too.

"Optimus had the same idea." Jack realized.

"Then we're on the right track." Raf added.

"Warning, the energon injection can only be operated manually." Soundwave spoke through the com-link.

"Manually?" Everyone exclaimed.

Jack approached Optimus and looked it carefully before think on something.

"Give me a boost." Jack proclaimed.

Raf and Miko helped Jack to climb over Optimus. Next he walked through his arm and jumped to the console before start pushing the lever, but it won't budge. But while he was trying to make the lever work, the ship's camera finally detected the kids.

" **I am infested with alien lifeforms!** " The ship yelled in surprise.

That made Miko and Raf look above them and see the camera looking at them.

"Uh oh. We just got made." Miko said.

Then the claw which inserted the energon on the engine started attacking them. Miko and Raf hid between the piles of energon cubes, but the claw started removing them. Jack was safe because he remained hidden, but he needed to safe his friends. Miko and Raf continued evading the claw, until they reached to a dead end, and the worst was that the claw found them.

" **All parasites will be eradicated!** " The ship proclaimed.

"Hey! Over here!" Jack called in, making the claw to look at him.

"Jack, no!" Raf cried.

"Run for it!" Miko yelled.

The claw tried to catch him, but he evaded it.

"Too slow!" He mocked.

But the claw stood in front of him again, but Jack saw that Optimus was behind him. So he waited until the last moment when the claw attacked and jumped out of its way, making it smacked into Optimus's foot. It causes Optimus to fall back and pull the lever in the process, as Jack got away before he collapsed to the floor. Soon the fuel lines reversed the dark energon and allowed normal energon to get everything normal.

" **Critical power drain! I am…in command! Prepare…to be…neutralized!** " The ship said its last works as the claw nearly hit Jack and before the dark energon was expelled from the power core.

All the ship returned to its normal state. But then Optimus Prime went back to normal, so the kids realized it was time to leave.

"Run!" Jack whispered.

At the same time on base all the Decepticons came back to normal.

"They made it." Soundwave observed.

"Soundwave! Fire up the ground bridge!" Jack yelled through the com-link.

While the kids were going back to where they came from, the Autobots started to move again, and Optimus was finally recovered, seeing that the lever was pulled. The kids returned with agent Silas, who was beginning to stand up.

"On your feet, soldier." Miko grunted as she picked him up.

"And beavers and ducks and walnuts and grandma!" Silas babbled before he collapsed to the floor.

Meanwhile, Jack and Raf saw that now there was four set of coordinates decrypted.

"That's all that's been downloaded?!" Jack asked in disbelief.

"The Iacon file must be huge." Raf realized.

Immediately, the ground bridge appeared in front of them.

"Sweet!" Miko cheered as she and Raf went to help agent Silas. "Come on, here's our ride!"

But Raf saw that Jack was not coming with them.

"Jack?"

"Get Silas out of here." He instructed as he walked towards Ratchet. "Something is better than nothing. I'm not leaving without that drive."

After climbing over Ratchet, he tried to pull out the drive, but then Ratchet came back to normal, so Jack was now in trouble.

"Well well, look what we have here. Nothing more than a new test subject to my experiments." Ratchet said in surprise. Jack fell back in shock as Ratchet turned his hand to a torch. "Say ahhhh."

But before the torch's flame reached to Jack, Ratchet felt some finger calling him from behind. He was in shock to see Soundwave in front of him with his tentacles shinning in electricity.

"Humans superior, Autobots inferior." He said.

The tentacles knocked Ratchet off before he grabbed Jack with one hand and the drive with the other, and run to the ground bridge. Fortunately it closed before Optimus reached the room.

"Optimus, I…" Ratchet began.

"You let them escape!" Optimus yelled in anger before he looked to the sets of coordinates, which made him more furious. "With vital intelligence!"

The same information was showed on the base's main computer.

"The download of the Iacon database might have been incomplete, but we now possess four sets of coordinates decoded by the ship." Soundwave reported.

"Then we must act quickly. For Optimus possess the same four sets." Starscream realized.

"And he will not hesitate to obtain the potential doomsday devices. Which lie at the side of each." Megatron declared.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty Seven- Underground Search**

Following the previous events, the Decepticon team was getting ready to go and search all the Iacon relics located by the moment.

"If we are to have any hope of recovering the Iacon relics before the Autobots do, we must divide our resources." Megatron proclaimed.

"But lord Megatron! When it comes to numbers, we're already at a great disadvantage!" Starscream objected.

"Under the circumstances, swiftness of action is paramount. This is one race that we absolutely cannot afford to lose." Megatron rumbled.

On the Ark, as it was flying around New York, the Autobots were preparing a similar movement.

"So we have four Iacon relics, of not knowing about their usefulness, and with the Decepticons following our tracks. What do you think it would be our best strategy?" Ratchet questioned.

"Dispatching multiple squadrons will allow us to pursuit all four coordinates simultaneously." Optimus decreed.

"Optimus, I've assembled the mining detail you've requested for the first set of coordinates." Bumblebee said entering the bridge with a lot of Autobot miners.

"Well done, Bumblebee. You will be in charge of that relic recovering, accompanied by Arcee and Cliffjumper. Ratchet, you will go too to supervise that everything will be right." Optimus instructed.

"As you wish my liege." The Doctor of Doom answered with a bow.

"It seems we have another mission together, eh partner?" Cliff said.

"Seriously? What was our first one together?" Arcee asked.

"When we first meet." He answered.

"Oh." Arcee said in surprise.

"I you don't mind, I will join them."

"Smokescreen? Are you talking seriously?" Bumblebee questioned.

"You're not too young to do this kind of mission?" Arcee asked.

"For your knowledge, I performed previous success in retrieving cybertronian relics. So I intend to do it again." Smokescreen declared proudly.

"Okay, you can go with them. But remember, this is a mission, not one of your racing excursions. So stop your preening! Move quickly and operate with a surgeon's skill! Have you understood it, Smokescreen?" Elita One declared.

"Explicitly, my lady." Smokescreen stuttered nervously.

"Now, since the most of you are simply scouts or unexperienced, you will require appropriated support." Optimus said.

Smokey, Arcee, Ratchet, Bee and Cliff looked around to see behind them a giant six legged Insectobot with giant jaws ( **a Bruiser from Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark** ) looking at them.

"How very repellant." Cliffjumper muttered as he and Arcee and Smokescreen looked at the creature nervously, while Ratchet and Bee smirked.

Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base…

"Megatron, the Autobots have retreated from Manhattan." Soundwave observed.

"They just up and left?" Knock Out repeated in disbelief.

"It is logical that Optimus has already set course for the second set of coordinates after dispatched a unit on this relic's underground location." Shockwave explained.

"Without busting up a city block to get to it?" Airachnid asked.

"They use subway tunnels." Jack said, catching their attention. "New York has a whole network of them running beneath the city."

"Since the human population no longer seems to be directly threatened, maintaining our disguise will be necessary. Airachnid, Stinger, you are the best choices to navigate through such a densely populated area." Megatron stated.

"Megatron, New York has more than eight million people. The odds of being spotted by at least one of them are pretty high. Even if they are heading underground." Jack warned.

"Where are you going with this?" Starscream asked.

"You're gonna need a face man." Jack answered, before elaborating at Megatron and Starscream's confusion expressions. "Well, someone who can speak on their behalf. A human who can run interference if their cover gets blown."

"Well, I've actually been in subway stations. I grew up in a major metropolis. Unlike Mr. I've-never-been-outside-Jasper-Nevada." Miko said looking at Jack.

"I have been to Cybertron." Jack reminded her.

"Cybertron doesn't have subways!" Miko objected before asking meekly. "Does it?"

"Yes, actually subways were one of the most used ways of travel for big cities. I saw that when we stormed Iacon." Knock Out told.

"Oh." Miko said in defeat.

"Agent Silas's field experience makes him our best candidate." Megatron said.

"I don't think that would be possible." Starscream corrected looking at Silas, who was lying on a medical berth.

"Form up!" He shouted before he when out again, making the children laugh a little.

"He's still recovering from his encounter with the Autobot warship." Soundwave explained.

"Which we survived without incidents." Miko reminded.

"Very well. Miko and Jack will accompany Airachnid and Stinger." Megatron said finally gave up.

"Yes!" Miko cheered.

"Soundwave, initiate transport, and triangulate coordinates of the other three relics." Megatron instructed.

"Affirmative."

"Shockwave, once they're inside the tunnels you will accompany them too, especially to watch the kids." Megatron instructed.

"I will do my best for all parts." Shockwave nodded.

"That was some trick, Miko." Breakdown nodded to her as she went down the stairs.

"You mean swiping Intel from right under Prime's nose? Just doing my part for the team." Miko said proudly before Stinger honked his horn. "Oh, gotta go, Breaky! I'll tell ya all about it when we get back! Wait up!" She yelled running at him.

"Take care of her, Sting." Breakdown said.

"Take care of him, Miko." Raf said, at the same time as Breakdown.

The ground bridge opened and the team went through it. They appeared inside a small street which lay to inside the city.

"Whoa." Jack said surprised by the big buildings from inside Airachnid.

"Of course, it's not Cybertron." Miko smirked from one of Stinger's windows.

"Alright, face. How do we get underground?" Airachnid asked.

"Well, you can't just jump the turn styles and hope no one notices, but we can try looking an underground entrance from the air." Jack explained before Stinger's horn caught their attention.

"Check it out! Construction! Effective life in the big city." Miko smiled.

She discovered a tunnel with a lot of construction instruments in the entrance.

"Shockwave, we are in the entrance." Airachnid reported through the com-link.

"Understood. I will join you when you're inside." Shockwave responded as he prepared the ground bridge.

Moments later, Shockwave was walking with the four of them through the tunnels.

"I must admit that you humans have impressive ways of architecture. These tunnels have been developed very well." Shockwave said observing the tunnel.

"Stinger, don't move!" Jack shouted looking where he was about to step on.

"( **What, why?** )" Stinger asked.

"The third trail. It carries electricity to power the subway trains." Jack clarified.

"One touch and zap! You're fried," Miko piped in.

"( **Okay, thanks for the warning. I will have more careful.** )" Stinger said as he rounded the railings.

"How do you know that if you have never been outside Jasper?" Airachnid asked.

"He must have learned about that on TV or something." Miko said.

Meanwhile, the Autobot miners were digging in a wall with their drillers while their Ratchet, Bee, Arcee, Cliff and Smokescreen were waiting, some more impatiently than others.

"How far to arrive to the relic?" Smokescreen asked walking from side to side.

"Be patient, Smokescreen. The miners can't speed their efforts in an area with frail structure taking a lot of risks." Ratchet explained looking a data panel.

"I just hope the relic will be something very useful, like some kind of awesome handle weapon of close combat." Cliffjumper thought.

"Or perhaps a big gun." Bee added.

"Or maybe a piece of armor improvement, which I could think a lot of them."

"Really, Smokey? Do you really have such a great imagination?" Arcee mocked.

"It is not just imagination. During the hardest days of the war, I was assigned in the Iacon Hall of Records. There I was able to know some of the most precious devices of cybertronian technology, which I'm sure this could be one of them." Smokescreen explained.

"I hope your expectations will be true. In that case we can return to our master with a big price." Bee remarked.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's cheer our troops to speed things up." Arcee suggested before she heard snarls from behind her. "Don't do that again!" She yelled to the giant Insectobot, while Cliff and Smokey laughed a little.

The Decepticons and children continued the search in the tunnels.

"We're getting any closer?" Jack asked.

"Triangulating the coordinates is one thing, but figuring out how to reach them through this maze is another." Shockwave said as he looked to the scanner he had in his hand.

Then Stinger began to hear a familiar sound, which was coming from a small tunnel. The rest of the group met with him as they heard the same sound.

"I know that sound. Drilling." Airachnid recognized.

"It's coming from this way." Miko said as she ran through the tunnel.

"Miko!" Jack called out.

"Jack, go with her and make sure she doesn't get into any mess. We'll go after you." Shockwave instructed.

He finally caught up with her at the other side of the tunnel.

"Miko, what it is…" Jack began, but then they were blinded by a few lights coming from a vehicle.

"Hold it right there!" A voice said.

"Scrap!" They all cursed.

There was a man standing behind a sweeper train with the regulation orange vest with vibrant yellow stripes and a megaphone.

"What are you kids doing down here?" He asked as he approached them.

"We're…on a field trip, with our school. But we got lost!" Miko lied.

"Oh really?" The man said dryly.

"I told him we should stay with our group, but Leonard here insisted we search for fossils!" Miko continued as she pointed Jack.

"My bad." Jack smiled sheepishly.

"I wanna go home. Can you help us, Mr…?" Miko trailed off.

"Vogel. But you can call me Vogel." The man clarified as he approached them and put down the megaphone. "So…you ever ride a sweeper train?"

As Vogel walked back to the train, Jack looked back to see Airachnid and Stinger looking at them with concern.

"Face. Tell Shockwave we're fine, that we'll meet as soon as we can." Jack whispered.

Now the kids were moving through the tunnels inside the train.

"And this section was added in the 30s as part of a public works project." Vogel explained.

"Fascinating." Miko sighed in a bored manner.

"These old tunnels have a dark side too. Strange creatures have been said to lurk down here. Giant snakes, albino alligators, even mole men." Vogel smirked.

"But they are just people who live down here because they have no place else to go, right?" Jack guessed.

"That's what the media wants you to believe. But I say they're from outer space." Vogel objected, causing Jack and Miko to look each other in confusion. "I'm telling you. Area 51 has got nothing on this place. The aliens are down here building up their army. Plotting to use us humans as slave labor."

Jack saw Miko pointing to the back door. They quietly exited the sweeper train as Vogel continued talking.

"Aliens, If only he knew." Miko laughed before they began to look for their friends.

At the same time, Shockwave detected something in his scanner.

"I'm picking up a locator beacon." Shockwave reported.

"That means the Bots have unearthed the relic." Airachnid decreed.

The three Decepticons hid behind a wall and prepared their weapons as they saw the Autobots looking through the hole they made through the wall.

"It seems that they find it already." Bee noticed.

"Then let me see it!" Ratchet shouted as he pushed everyone back.

Inside the hole he saw the same kind of container which was secured the spark extractor.

"Airachnid, Stinger, I will bomb them while you sneak through them and grab the relic." Shockwave instructed as he changed to his tank form.

"Got it." Airachnid responded before she and Stinger hid.

Then Shockwave drove to the tunnel's intersection, in front of the Autobots.

"Lock and load. Autobots, surrender the relic and I'll spare your lives!" He shouted.

"Shockwave?" Cliff asked surprised.

"Ha. This artifact belongs to Optimus Prime. You'll have to take it by force." Ratchet challenged.

Shockwave began to fire his cannon at them, taking down a few miners as the others went to cover.

"Way to go, doctor!" Smokey objected.

Stinger and Airachnid got ready to sneak when the Autobots got all their attention on Shockwave, who started to advance at them. But them the Insectobot bruiser attacked them from the ceiling, so they fired at it. Although it had no weapons, the giant bug started to charge at them, trying to crush them. That caught Shockwave's attention, who started to shot at it from behind.

"It seems the bug it's doing well after all." Cliff noticed.

"Now is our chance. Attack!" Bumblebee ordered.

Finally Airachnid managed to blind the Insectobot by shooting webs at its eyes, and she saw the Autobots coming, but not Shockwave.

"Arcee, Cliff, you engage Shockwave! The rest of you, protect the relic!" Ratchet instructed.

"Stinger, help Shockwave! I'll get the relic!" Airachnid said activating her spider legs.

Stinger went to help Shockwave, but Bumblebee intercepted him while Airachnid charged at the rest of the miners who tried to take her down, but she managed to kill them all. But Smokescreen managed to kick her from behind.

"So, what we should do with this spider, doctor?" Smokescreen asked.

"I believe with all that lovely features, my diagnostic will recommend a little painful procedure that I like to call the nip and tuck." Ratchet said as he was going to strike her with his blade.

Fortunately she dodged in the last moment and hit both of them with her extra legs.

"Dodge and kick." She said proudly.

During their fight with Shockwave, Arcee saw how close Airachnid was from the relic's hole.

"Scrap, Airachnid's gonna grab the relic! She always has been so sneaky." She cursed.

"Go after her!" Cliff said as he was holding Shockwave's cannon.

"What?!"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Go!" He repeated.

Arcee changed into her motorcycle form and drove towards her rival.

"Airachnid, behind you!" Shockwave yelled.

That allowed her to evaded Arcee's blades.

"Don't you want to finish what we started?" Arcee challenged.

"Sorry, but I'm a little busy right now." Airachnid said before she trapped Arcee against the drill with webs.

Airachnid ran for the relics and tried to open its container, but it was much locked. Meanwhile, Shockwave was taking care of both Cliffjumper and Ratchet while Stinger continued fighting against Bumblebee.

"It seems that the tables have changed again. How it feels to be the only one without a voice now?" Bee mocked.

That made Stinger angrier and pushed Bee against the wall and started punching him in the face.

"( **I'm going to tear out your voice box again, and more this time.** )" He swore.

But before he could hit strike again, the Insectobot grabbed him by its jaws and began to squeeze him, making him groan in pain. After that, he charged against Shockwave and slammed both Decepticons against the wall, knocking them unconscious. Airachnid was about to grab the relic, but then Smokescreen hit her in the back with an electrified train rail, knocking her too.

"Shock and drop." He said in exhaustion, because the rail hurt him with the electricity too.

"Not bad, rookie." Arcee felicitated him after he freed her.

At the same time, the kids reached to a fork in the tunnel. They couldn't determine which one lead to where the battle was taking place.

"Uh…" Jack started.

"This way." Miko suggested as she took off running down the right tunnel.

"How do you know?" Jack called as he ran after her. "Miko, let's think this through!"

"Why? Cause you think I don't know what I'm doing?!" Miko snapped. "I'm Jack! Megatron picked me to go to Cybertron, so I must know everything!"

"Okay Miko, seriously? If that's what's bugging you, then why you don't said something before?" Jack demanded.

"I've been holding it in." Miko shrugged as she turned away from him.

"Since when do you hold anything in?" Jack asked before sighing. "Look, it's not like you don't contribute. Just yesterday you helped take down a psychotic Autobot warship. This isn't a competition! I…"

"Lost, huh?" A voice caught their attention. It was Vogel's, who found them. "You two are gonna have to explain yourselves to the New York Transit Authority."

"I think we should tell him the truth." Miko sighed.

"Right. The truth is…we lost our dog." Jack lied.

"You're wasting your breath." Vogel said.

"The real truth. We're trying to prevent aliens from digging up a powerful, ancient relic so they can't use it to destroy our planet." Miko confessed.

"I swore I heard something weird and high-pitched early today. Something that wasn't the crew drilling over on track five." Vogel exclaimed in surprise.

Meanwhile, the Autobots put together the Decepticons, all still unconscious, while Ratchet grabbed the container.

"Now let's see what relic is this and what it can do." Bumblebee said as he opened the container and took out a small object with three claws.

"And what better way to learn its power than a very good experiment." Ratchet suggested as he was going to put the object on Shockwave.

"Ratchet! Don't do that!" Smokescreen yelled.

"And why should I follow your advice?"

"Because I know that relic better than anyone, and that is the worst thing you can do with it." He explained.

In that moment, the sweeper train was reaching them, so they humans were able to see them, even Vogel.

"Mole men! Metal ones!" Vogel exclaimed in surprise.

"Actually, Autobots." Miko corrected.

"And they have Airachnid, Stinger and Shockwave!" Jack cried.

"Vogel, this thing has another gear?" Miko asked.

"Abso-fricking-lutely!" Vogel answered eagerly as he switched gears.

Then the train speeded faster towards the Autobots. Most of them and the Insectobot managed to jump out of the way, but the train slammed into Cliffjumper, causing him to be pushed up against the wall with sparks flying. He managed to get up when the train continued driving, but much damaged.

"Cliff! Are you okay?" Arcee asked helping him.

"Hey, that hurts!" He yelled to them.

"Those are their human allies. Crush them!" Ratchet ordered the Insectobot.

That allowed the Decepticons to stand up, and Shockwave to knock out Ratchet with his cannon. Airachnid faced the Insectobot while, both Stinger and Shockwave took down Arcee.

"Smokescreen, lets secure the relic!" Bee told him before he changed to his sports car form.

"Hate to run, but we missed our train!" Smokescreen smirked as he transformed and drove away with Bumblebee.

"Follow the relic! We'll grab Jack and Miko!" Shockwave immediately instructed.

So Stinger transformed and began to pursuit the Autobots, while Airachnid climbed over the Insectobot and continued shooting at him as Shockwave changed to his tank form and drove after the train, but the Insectobot chased him. Meanwhile, with the kids…

"Not good!" Vogel exclaimed. "Break line must have been torched!"

"We can't stop?!" Jack repeated in disbelief.

"No big deal. These tracks go around for miles. Right, Vogel?" Miko asked nervously.

"Not this one!" Vogel objected as he looked down and saw that they were approaching the end of the track.

"This track dead ends?! As in crash and burns?!" Jack asked nervously.

"I'm really starting to hate trains!" Miko screeched.

Fortunately for them, Shockwave managed to catch them up, so he transformed and attached to the train.

"What was that?" Vogel asked after they felt a loud crash from the back of the train.

Miko and Jack went to the back, and they smiled to see it was Shockwave, who looked at them. But Vogel's reaction was another: he grabbed an axe next to him and with intention of use it.

"Welcome to Earth!" He shouted as he swung the axe.

"Vogel, no!" Jack yelled as he and Miko put in the middle.

"He's one of the good guys!" Miko added.

They managed to call him down.

"Shockwave, the brakes are shot!" Jack reported.

"Is there any kind of emergency override?!" He asked.

Vogel approached him. "No sir, but there is a switch track control up ahead. If you can just adjust the pull rod!"

Shockwave look around trying to located it before looked back to the humans.

"You'll know it when you see it! It'll reroute us to another line!" Vogel explained.

Shockwave nodded and changed again to his alt mode.

"Did he just turn into…a tank?" Vogel asked in surprise.

Shockwave managed to overtake the train and drove towards the switch, but the humans heard another sound, one very bad. They looked behind to see the Insectobot, with Airachnid hooked by webs.

"And that would be…" Vogel started.

"Trouble. And it seems that Airachnid is in trouble too." Jack observed.

Meanwhile, Stinger was following both Bee and Smokey through the tunnels.

"Well, well. Look who got his wheels back." Smokescreen mocked.

"Just keep speed up." Bee suggested.

The Autobots tried to lose him by turning around to another tunnel, but Stinger followed them. At that same moment, Shockwave reached to the switch, so he returned to his robot form and started to pull it. But it was tougher than he believed, and ended crushing it.

"Scrap." He cursed.

"Uh oh." Vogel exclaimed in fear.

Shockwave tried to use his feet to change the trail, and he made it in the last moment, just before the trail was close to hit him.

"Yes!" Jack cried in joy.

"Alright." Vogel added.

"Sweet!" Miko cheered.

Then the Insectobot pushed Shockwave back while Airachnid landed on the train's trails. She looked to the electric trail, and an idea came to his mind.

"Come to mama." She whispered.

The Insectobot approached her, so she teased it with her shots, trying to make it touch the electrified trail. She managed to hurt it very bad, but not to touch the trail. But then a big shot from behind took it down and electricity fried completely the bug. Airachnid looked over to see Shockwave standing firm and nodding her.

"Shock and drop." She remarked.

"Let's get back with the kids." Shockwave instructed.

On the other side, Stinger managed to catch up Bumblebee and pushed him out of the road, making him to smash against a wall. Next he hit Smokescreen and immediately transformed back to his robot form, grabbed him and launched him. While Smokey went back to his robot form and dropped the relic, both robots pushed each other in their way to the relic. As for the humans…

"We're in the clear." Miko said in relief.

"Still need a way to stop. Besides slamming into a wall I mean." Vogel remembered.

Both robots tried to reclaim the relic, but as they continued fighting, the relic suddenly activated, and hooked itself to Stinger's arm. Just then, the train was coming towards him from behind.

"Watch out!" Jack yelled.

"Stinger!" Miko shouted.

Stinger braced himself for the impact, but nothing happened. He just passed through the train without any harm. But that wasn't the same for Smokescreen: the train hit him strong and fast and carried him by the way in the floor, stopping the train.

"Stinger!" Miko called out.

"( **Don't worry. I'm fine.** )" He responded.

"Dude!" Miko cheered as she, Jack and Vogel meet with him.

Then Shockwave and Airachnid arrived from behind them.

"( **I secured the relic.** )" Stinger said showing them his arm, with the relic still active.

"How did you…not get mashed?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"( **I think it's thanks to this.** )" He answered.

"Indeed. It's a phase shifter: a powerful device that discomposed its owner's molecules and makes him able to break through any solid surface without resistance." Shockwave explained.

"It's handy when you need to pass through solid objects. Or vice versa." Airachnid clarified, making a demonstration by passing her hand through Stinger.

"( **With this I could be an elite scout.** )" Stinger said as he removed it.

Just when Bumblebee and the other Autobots arrived, Smokescreen stood up and looked himself in the train's glass.

"Smokescreen, are you okay?" Bee asked.

"No, NOOOOOOOO!" Smokescreen yelled before he pushed the train at the group. "You made me this… I'll respond worse!"

Fortunately, Shockwave grabbed the train with his hand. "The relic is ours. You have failed. Your only logical option would be retreat."

"No, I will reclaim that relic for our leader!" Smokescreen repeated angry.

"Smokescreen, wait! Everyone is hardly damaged and we are surpassed in weapon weary. We can't fight in these conditions." Ratchet explained, grabbing on of his hands.

"Ratchet is right. We lost this fight, but we still have a war to win." Bumblebee agreed.

Smokescreen roared before he and the other Autobots transformed and drove away, as Smokescreen lost one of his wheels. Everyone was alright, but there were still one problem.

"He knows. Do we have to take him with us?" Jack asked, referring to Vogel.

"To the mothership?" Vogel exclaimed.

"I think I have a work around." Miko said smiling.

"We don't lose anything by trying it. What is it?" Shockwave demanded.

"I only need to call our backup." Miko said picking her phone.

Miko's idea involved someone better than then who could intervene for the Decepticons, and that person was now fully awake on base.

"That's right, soldiers! Dump that rock and come back home!" Silas encouraged through the com-link.

Then Silas heard his communicator ring and picked it up.

"Silas. Miko, what is it? What in the name of God?! Listen, I'm in the middle of a crisis here! And you want me to…Oh…Put him on the line." Silas answered.

Back in the tunnels, Miko passed her phone to Vogel so he could talk with Silas.

"Mr. Vogel, this is agent Silas of the United States Government. You are hereby deputized as an honorary agent for the department of…interstellar relations." Silas said.

"Thank you, sir." Vogel thanked as he handed the phone back to Miko. "So, you folks will be in touch?"

"Abso-freaking-lutely." Miko answered with a smirk.

"But until then, we need to maintain complete radio silence." Shockwave said to Vogel.

"It's been an honor." Vogel smiled as he gave the Decepticons a salute, so they saluted him back before they walked away with Jack and Miko.

"Good call, face." Jack admitted.

"I understand big city people. Who spend way too much time below ground." Miko replied.

"One relic down, three to go." Airachnid decreed.

"Let's hope the others are having similar results." Shockwave said before all changed to their vehicle forms.

Jack went inside Airachnid, Miko inside Stinger and they started to drive to the tunnel's exit. Vogel saw that too.

"Robots who turn into vehicles." Vogel mused as he looked his sweeper train with skepticism.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter Thirty Eight- Frozen Brawl**

Inside the Ark, the Autobots marked the second set off coordinates of the Iacon relics.

"The coordinates indicate that the second set of these four Iacon relics lies at the very bottom of this world." Elita observed.

"I will journey to the ends of this or any world to serve your will, Optimus Prime."

"Then return with my prize, Ultra Magnus, and prove you are more worthy of being my second in command than those who tried to prove it better." Optimus declared.

Ultra Magnus nodded him. "Wreckers, form up! It's time to move!"

"Ha, like the old times, heh Jackie?!" Bulkhead said.

"Like the old times." He answered preparing his swords.

Meanwhile, someone was preparing another kind of procedure inside the Harbinger.

"Grr, I wish Slash was here." Grimlock roared while he put some instruments on the medical table. "But I guess this has to be done one way or another at the end. Let's see: inner stat, cross clam, laser scalpel, durabyllium drill, and one slightly damaged but operation t-cog. Courtesy of my traitorous clone. Everything I require to make myself whole." He said as he sat on the operating chair and grabbed the drill. Next he activated the drill. "A simple painless procedure. Nothing to it really. Provided one processes the nerve."

He began to approaches the drill to his chest. But suddenly the alarms sounded. Grimlock went to the terminal to see what was happening.

"Four detachments of Autobots ground bridging to four different continents at the exact same time? Huh, procedure postpone." He smirked.

At the same time, the Decepticons were preparing to depart to the same locations in their base. Starscream was already leaving.

"Be on your guard, Starscream." Megatron said. "Rafael, lock on the remaining coordinates. Soundwave, Breakdown and I will embark for the Antarctic."

"Urg, why did not they send those relics to a more secure place unlike a frozen wasteland?" Breakdown groaned while Raf marked the next coordinates.

"As for you, Knock Out, I would prefer that you have company on your mission." Megatron said.

"No one is left to join me, Megatron. Even if agent Silas were alert." Knock Out pointed that Silas wasn't still better. "After all he's human."

"I was considering the only remaining Decepticon alternative on this planet." Megatron said.

Knock Out gasped knowing who Megatron was referring. "But you can't be serious. Astraea is insubordinate, a ruffian! Besides she's more close to Breakdown."

"Your expertise is scientific, but Astraea is a highly capable warrior. You would be wise to welcome the temporary alliance." Megatron explained, making Knock Out to give up.

Meanwhile, Grimlock managed to open a ground bridge portal with a small device which he found inside the Harbinger.

"Ah. A remote control for the ground bridge. I love what these Decepticon scientists can create sometimes." Grimlock said.

The ground bridge took Grimlock to the Antarctic, riding on a cybertronian recon hover bike. Grimlock shivered and grunted when he saw his surroundings.

"I despite this planet. If isn't a scorching desert, it is a frigid wasteland. Now, where are you, my Autobot brethren?"

Then two Autobot helicopters soared over his head. They circle around and opened fire at him. Grimlock turned his bike around, evading them. But two more helicopters came in front of him, with the Wreckers above them firing at him.

"Come on, faster! I hate this pathetic excuse for transportation!" Grimlock shouted as he tried to use the bike as shield.

But the Autobots managed to take him down by destroying his bike. The Autobot helicopters landed and aimed their weapons at him while Bulkhead and Wheeljack landed in front of him.

"It seems we have a big one." Wheeljack realized.

"End of the line, Con!" Bulkhead said aiming his weapon.

"Wreckers! Are you nuts or do you have your logic processors damaged? You don't recognize me?!" Grimlock roared.

"Hm?" Bulkhead asked confused.

"Your voice sounds familiar, but I didn't see you anywhere." Wheeljack swore.

"Really? Do you not realize you have just shot down your ship's general!" Grimlock roared.

Then Ultra Magnus landed next to him.

"You command now no one…Dinobot." Ultra Magnus declared.

"Who are you?"

"Don't you hear about him? He was Optimus's second in command during the war." Bulkhead reminded.

"And our team's leader." Wheeljack added.

That let Grimlock without words.

"Were it up to me I would end this, here and now." Ultra Magnus said before he put stasis cuffs on Grimlock's hands. "But it is my duty as first general of Optimus Prime to render all traitors to my lord and master for due punishment."

"First general?! That's my post!" Grimlock shouted as he got up, but all the Autobots aimed their weapons at him. "Uh, was my post."

Now the Autobots were moving through the frozen wasteland taking Grimlock with them as a captive.

"I didn't recognize you for a minute, Grimlock. Where did you get that new chassis?" Wheeljack asked.

"That is none of your concern." He answered coldly. "So, general Magnus, this must be a very important mission if Prime has dispatched his second in command, alongside the entire Wrecker team. Scouting for energon or something else more important?"

"That is none of your concern." Ultra Magnus replied.

"If I knew what you were looking for perhaps I could help." Grimlock said before one of the Autobots shoved him.

"We have arrived at the coordinates." Bulkhead said as they saw a place marked with flags and witnessed his eyes. "The relic… it has been taken."

"Relic? What sort of relic?" Grimlock asked interested.

"By the look of the hole here, it seems that someone arrived here before us… and dragged the relic from the ice." Wheeljack observed.

"Search the area!" Ultra Magnus ordered.

All the Autobots scattered, while high above them, Megatron, Soundwave and Breakdown watched them.

"General Magnus, we have discovered vehicle tracks." One of the Autobots reported.

"The Cons." Bulkhead cursed.

"Perhaps. Though I've known them to plant flags at the site of their victories." Grimlock added.

"Maybe is wrong for me to say this but he has a clue." Wheeljack said.

"Do not try me, traitor." Ultra Magnus said as he came closer to Grimlock's face. "Or we'll leave your lifeless husk in this frozen waste."

Then everyone heard engine noise coming from behind them. The Wreckers saw coming Megatron, Soundwave and Breakdown in their alt modes.

"I knew it was them." Bulkhead said.

"You two guard the prisoner." Wheeljack ordered to two of the Autobots.

Next the Decepticons transformed in front of them.

"Megatron, I will request only once that you surrender the relic." Ultra Magnus demanded.

"I was going to request the same of you, Ultra Magnus." Megatron replied.

"Then I seem that we're on equal footing. If it's not that there are seven of us and only three of you." Wheeljack said.

"Eight. If you release me of these ridiculous manacles." Grimlock said.

There was a long silence, until the Autobots decided to shot first. The Decepticons attacked at the same time as they evaded the shots. Two of the helicopters tried to approach them, but Megatron and Breakdown neutralized them with their weapons. Megatron managed to hit Ultra Magnus with his fusion cannon, but that made him launched a huge missile from his arm as Wheeljack threw a few grenades. Breakdown launched a missile to destroy the one launched by Ultra Magnus while Soundwave and Megatron jumped over the grenades to evade them. Once the Decepticons were close enough they jumped over the Wreckers, but before they could strike their adversaries prepared for close combat: Bulkhead engaged with his wrecking ball Breakdown's hammer; Wheeljack fought Soundwave with his swords; and Ultra Magnus fought Megatron's sword with something unexpected.

"You're using the Forge of Solus Prime as a weapon?!" Megatron said in disbelief.

"Don't get so dramatic, Megatron. Optimus has given me authority to use this sacred instrument for good use. After all it's a relic from his ancestors." Ultra Magnus declared.

"You and I know that's not true." Megatron said charging again.

While they both charged again, the others were keeping with their fights.

"Once I finished with you I will bury your remains in this ice so everyone who gets here knows that here is where I finished you." Bulkhead declared.

"Not If I finish with you first." Breakdown said hitting him.

Soundwave managed to block Wheeljack's swords continuingly.

"What's wrong, silent Con? You don't get tired so easily?" Wheeljack mocked.

Soundwave took the chance to grab Wheeljack with one of his tentacles and threw him against his partner. Breakdown saw that and put Bulkhead in the perfect place so both Wreckers hit each other and fell unconscious. Meanwhile, Megatron managed to kick Magnus, but he pushed him to the edge of a cliff. Then Ultra Magnus retrieve the forge and tackled Megatron, making them both falling to the bottom. Breakdown and Soundwave saw that and went to see where they go. They saw them in the bottom keep fighting, until Magnus took down Megatron. Then Megatron saw the cliff before he looked up to Soundwave who nodded him before he fired some at the wall.

"Your aim is poor." Ultra Magnus said.

"That is a matter of perspective." Megatron said.

Then he saw Laserbeak firing at the wall's weak points, making it to crack and began to fall. Megatron transformed and flew towards the other Decepticons while Ultra Magnus was caught by the crumble. That was spotted by Grimlock, who accompanied the other Autobots to the walls remains.

"A stalemate would leave us where?" He asked.

"General Magnus!" One of the Autobots called.

Then a shadow emerged from the smoke, but it was Megatron accompanied by Breakdown. Then Laserbeak came from above them firing, allowing Soundwave to jump over them before grabbing them both and throwing them to his feet. But before he could paralyze them with his tentacles, Grimlock crushed them with his foot.

"This is what a team is supposed to be! I have to admit that I am so glad that you and your companions prevailed, Megatron! Those treacherous Wreckers were going to terminate me. Now, if you could just remove my bonds, I can lead you straight to the relic." Grimlock asked.

But instead of that, Megatron and Breakdown aimed their weapons at him, the same as Laserbeak who landed over Soundwave's arm.

"You will lead us there regardless." Soundwave corrected.

"Hm, you're welcome." Grimlock groaned.

Now Grimlock was leading the Decepticons through a snow storm.

"You don't look like the last time we met, Grimlock. Where did you get that new upgrade?" Breakdown asked.

"Urg, why everyone needs to ask me that?!" Grimlock roared.

"That new appearance reminds me to the ancient cybertronian knights which lived in the same time as the first Primes. I don't know how you took possession of that armor and weapons, but I only hope that you earned them by proving yourself as a warrior worthy of carrying them." Megatron said.

"I showed myself worthy long time ago. Anyway, be reasonable. This cold will freeze both our actuators." Grimlock said.

"The current temperatures are not extreme enough to affect our biology." Soundwave clarified.

"So you'll be fine." Breakdown added.

"Fine, but miserable. And I cannot believe that you take our alliances for granted. After all I have done for the Decepticons: helping to restore your memory, Megatron; saving Airachnid's life." Grimlock counted.

"While you have at time's proven beneficial to us, it has been only to further your own interest." Megatron corrected.

"Well, we can't all be as selfless as you now, can we?" Grimlock finished.

They continued walking until they arrived to an open area, where they could see from the distance an investigation facility.

"Ah, as I suspected: humans." Grimlock pointed.

"Well, we'll find the relic here without problem. Mission complete." Breakdown cheered.

"So let us reclaim what is rightfully ours." Grimlock declared as he began to advance towards the facility, only for be stopped by Megatron.

"We cannot simply enter a human facility to search for cybertronian relics." Megatron said.

"Not even if they stole it?" Breakdown asked.

"No can I expose innocent humans to a dangerous Dinobot." Megatron said before he activated his com-link. "Rafael, has agent Silas regained consciousness?"

"I'm here, Megatron." Silas answered. "What's your situation?"

"I require access to a research facility at my current coordinates." Megatron explained.

"Let me make a call." Silas said.

Right in that moment Bulkhead and Wheeljack returned back online.

"Ow, my head. I didn't expect that move." Wheeljack said.

"It seems that the Cons have improved their tactics against us." Bulkhead added. "By the way, where is Magnus?"

"General?!" Wheeljack yelled.

Then they heard a huge noise coming from the place of the crumble and they saw Ultra Magnus getting out of the ice using a mega-cannon that he carried on his back.

"Are you okay, sir?"

"I'm fine Wheeljack, it takes more than that to knock me down."

"It seems that it is only us three again." Bulkhead said looking at the corpses of the Autobot helicopters.

"I'm sure the Cons took Grimlock with them in order to get to the relic before us." Wheeljack deduced looking the tracks.

"Then we'll not give them a chance. Wreckers, let's roll!" Ultra Magnus yelled.

They transformed and followed the tracks. Meanwhile the Decepticons continued waiting while Grimlock waited more impatiently.

"Are we really going to wait out here in the freezing cold? Completely depending on human bureaucracy?!" Grimlock roared.

Right in that moment a small group of helicopters took fly and left the base.

"Base is clear, Megatron. Try not to wreck the place."

"Many thanks, agent Silas." Megatron said.

"Other thing: Starscream requires backup immediately." Silas added.

"Understood. I'm sending Breakdown to assist him."

"You got it, boss." Breakdown said before he went through a ground bridge summoned by Soundwave.

Moments later, inside the base, Megatron and Soundwave opened the door of the main hangar as Grimlock followed them. They saw a big piece of ice with something stuck inside.

"The relic remains sealed in the ice." Soundwave analyzed.

"I knew you were of questionable honor, Grimlock. But aiding the Decepticons? That is a capital offense." Ultra Magnus said appearing behind them alongside Bulkhead and Wheeljack.

"What? No! I just left tracks for you. So you could help me to stop them." Grimlock excused.

"Ultra Magnus, we cannot allow you to left here with this relic." Megatron said.

"We know that, Buckethead. But we do not intend to give you a choice." Wheeljack said as they prepared their weapons.

Megatron tackled Ultra Magnus while Soundwave summoned Laserbeak, next he did the same with Wheeljack as Laserbeak landed on Bulkhead's back and started to electrify him with its claws. Grimlock took the chance to examine the relic closer.

"Given all the fuss, this relic must be truly special." Grimlock smirked before he started to hit the ice with his chained hands.

Both Wheeljack and Bulkhead tried to smash Soundwave, but he fired his laser guns from his arms to the two Wreckers, forcing them to cover their faces. After that, Soundwave grabbed them by the feet with his tentacles and threw them together. Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus managed to free himself, revealing that he put a grenade on Megatron. He threw the grenade and ran before it exploded. In that moment, Grimlock finished freeing the relic.

"Armor. Of Autobot origin." He observed as he put it on his chest.

When the relic activated it expanded through Grimlock's body, destroying the chains of his hands. Megatron was still recovering from the explosion when Ultra Magnus approached him with the forge in hand. He raised it ready to execute him, but Soundwave climbed to his back to stop him. That allowed Megatron to push him back a little with his sword, but the other two Wreckers recovered already too. But when they were ready for the next assault, something came out of the hangar through the ceiling. It landed in front of all of them, revealing to be Grimlock inside the armor.

"The Apex Armor." Megatron recognized.

"A perfect fit." Grimlock smirked.

"Whoa. And I believe Grimlock was already big. Now he's even bigger!" Wheeljack observed.

"You dare to claim that which rightfully belongs to Optimus Prime?" Ultra Magnus asked.

Grimlock laughed. "And what do you intended to do about it, general?"

Ultra Magnus charged and hit him with the forge, but it didn't make any scratch. That made Grimlock laugh before he pushed Ultra Magnus away.

"Not so powerful now, are you?" Grimlock mocked.

Wheeljack and Bulkhead tried to hit him too with their laser guns and close combat weapons, but the result was the same. Grimlock took the chance and grabbed them both and crash them together and threw them too.

"I haven't had this much fun since I punched that hole in Steve!" Grimlock proclaimed before he picked up a bulldozer. "Allow me to reunite you with your beloved partners."

But then both Decepticons shoved Grimlock, causing him to throw the bulldozer high into the air. It was going to land over the Wreckers, but Ultra Magnus grabbed them just in time before it landed. Grimlock punched Megatron away when he recovered, while Soundwave tried to electrify him, but it didn't do any effect. Then Grimlock grabbed his tentacle and started to swing him around the area, smashing him in a lot of places before launch him against the hangar. Megatron started to fire his fusion cannon at him, but it did nothing. Next Grimlock advanced towards him, so Megatron tried to punch him, but Grimlock caught his fist and began to crush it.

"And you, Megatron. I will beat the living spark out of you. Just so I never again have to endure your pontificating!" Grimlock declared before he threw Megatron to a pile of trailer containers.

Ultra Magnus took a few shots at Grimlock with two turrets which came from his high shoulders before he tried to strike him with the forge, but Grimlock blockaded it and threw him next to Megatron. Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Soundwave met with them once they recovered.

"Ultra Magnus, our battle remains unfinished, but if we do not unite against our common foe…" Megatron began.

"Grimlock will destroy us all." Ultra Magnus finished.

"So the enemy of my enemy is my comrade?" Wheeljack asked before receiving a nod from Soundwave.

"I don't have any problem for a temporary alliance, especially now that Breakdown is gone." Bulkhead added while Grimlock advanced towards them threatening.

"We Wreckers will draw his attention." Ultra Magnus said as he handed Megatron a grenade.

"Soundwave, support them." Megatron ordered.

"Affirmative."

The Wreckers split all in vehicle form while Soundwave took fly. Once they all were enough far they charged against Grimlock.

"Now! Give him all you got!" Ultra Magnus ordered.

Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead shot a turret from their backs while Wheeljack fired two laser guns which came from his front part, but it didn't do anything to their opponent. Grimlock took the chance and trampled the floor and generated huge shock waves that send the Wreckers flying.

"Ground power beats horsepower." Grimlock mocked.

Soundwave shot his laser guns and a few missiles, but Grimlock did not notice it. Then he ran to him and jumped to hit him. Soundwave transformed once he crashed.

"And might beats flight." Grimlock repeated.

Then Megatron took the chance and jumped to Grimlock's back before he pushed him back.

"Wheeljack, now!" Ultra Magnus yelled.

"Bye bye, Dinobot." Wheeljack said pressing a detonator.

That activated the grenade Megatron put on Grimlock's back. The explosion was huge, but when the smoke disappeared they looked in horror that Grimlock seemed to not receive any damage.

"What in the Allspark?! Nothing can survive that! " Wheeljack said in disbelief.

Grimlock laughed maniacally. "That tickled!" He said before he laughed more. "Fools! Not only am I more intelligent than I look, I am invincible!"

"Yet you cannot transform!" Bulkhead shouted before he charged at him in vehicle mode.

"Nobody is perfect." Grimlock said before he stopped him with his foot and pushed him back with strength.

"There is no way we can defeat Grimlock with that armor protecting his chassis." Wheeljack said helping Bulkhead.

Ultra Magnus took a look to the floor, exanimated the ice and an idea came to his mind. "If we can't defeat him, we'll banish him. Wheeljack, do you still have more grenades?"

"A couple of them. Why? I don't think it would be enough firepower to destroy him."

"No, but it will be enough for what I'm thinking."

As the Wreckers began with their plan, Grimlock advanced towards Megatron. Soundwave tried to distract him with Laserbeak, but Grimlock simply ignored him. He tried that Laserbeak scanned the armor in order to find a weak point, but at the moment it landed over him Grimlock grabbed it and threw it away. Soundwave managed to recover it in time, but Grimlock took the chance and grabbed him by the neck.

"Now tell me of the other three relics, Megatron. Or Soundwave will join the Allspark. Are they as powerful as my shiny new armor?" Grimlock asked as he used Soundwave to hit Megatron.

"They were hidden away precisely to keep them from the hands of those like you." Megatron said before he used an iron pipe to hit Grimlock's hand and free Soundwave.

Grimlock tried to push him again, but Megatron managed to blockade it this time, next he punched him a couple of times, without results.

"He's far too powerful, Megatron! Fall back!" Ultra Magnus shouted.

"Cowards!" Grimlock said as Megatron and Soundwave transformed and went back with the Wreckers. "You will not escape my wrath! Wait…you five are up to something." Grimlock suspected.

"You're right. Enjoy the deeps." Wheeljack said pressing a button.

The detonator activated a lot of grenades located all around Grimlock. That created a huge explosion, which created a huge hole in the floor that made Grimlock fall as his screams echoed. Megatron and Soundwave took a look to the hole.

"Whoa, that is a huge hole indeed. Where do you think it will take?" Bulkhead asked.

"Hopefully far enough that perhaps we'll never see him again." Wheeljack said.

Then Ultra Magnus pulled out the forge and activated his shoulder turrets again. "Now that our alliance has served its purpose."

"Grimlock is gone, and the Apex Armor with him." Megatron said as he pulled out his sword and Soundwave get in combat position. "Is there really a need to renew battle when the goal has been lost?"

"He has a point." Bulkhead said confused.

"We have other unfinished matters." Ultra Magnus responded coldly. "Wreckers, prepare to call a ground bridge. I will meet with you when I have finished."

"I really don't care about what kind of madness the general is up to, so let's left him with his business. Come on Bulk." Wheeljack said walking away.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay with you?" He asked.

"Don't worry Bulk. You have seen it; the general has acted like a true Wrecker. He'll be fine." Wheeljack reassured as they transformed and departed.

"I bore Causeway no malice and I regret the role I played in her demise." Megatron said returning his sword, so Soundwave do the same. "So I will appeal to you as I once did your sparkmate. Turn your back on the Autobot cause and help me end this war for her sake and for all who have fallen."

Ultra Magnus returned the forge. "You saved my team's life and mine today. I will terminate either of you the next time we meet."

Ultra Magnus transformed and drove away, following the other Wreckers.

"So be it, Ultra Magnus." Megatron said. "Soundwave, let's go home."

Soundwave nodded before he summoned a ground bridge which they crossed, returning to base. But they were not aware that in the deeps of the ocean, Grimlock was walking in the bottom, still with the Apex Armor.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter Thirty Nine- A Curious Couple**

Deep inside a forest, Astraea was waiting next to her ship, tossing a grenade up and down. Then a ground bridge appeared in front of her, and Knock Out came through it.

"The boss thought you needed backup, huh?" Astraea said.

"For your information, Megatron feels strongly that you require supervision." Knock Out corrected.

"I'll be sure to be on my best behavior, Doc Knock." Astraea answered.

"Please don't call me Doc Knock." Knock Out asked.

"Whatever you say, Sunshine." Astraea added.

That made Knock Out groan in frustration. "I cannot understand how Breakdown gets along so well with this girl." He muttered.

After the two get aboard the ship took off and flew towards the coordinates indicated the location of the third relic.

"So, all of Megatron's team is chasing down these four Iacon relics?" Astraea asked.

"The four which are currently in play." Knock Out specified.

"There's more?"

"Optimus Prime maintains possession of the entire Iacon database. We have yet to learn how many more relics or Autobot weapons of mass destruction it contains." Knock Out explained.

"No worries, Doc Knock. I got your back."

That made Knock Out to get mad again. "My name is not Doc Knock! And I do not require anyone watching my back! I proved my medal during the war for Cybertron."

"Then I'm lucky you're along for the ride, Champ." Astraea said when the radar detected something. "Cause we got a bogey on our tail."

There were being followed by nothing more and nothing less than the only Autobot that no one managed to defeat.

"Blaster." Knock Out recognized when he saw him on the rearview feed.

"Prime's communications chief?" Astraea asked.

"He must be tracking the same coordinates."

The ship trembled when it received a few shots from Blaster.

"You might want to grab onto something." Astraea said as she began to perform evasive maneuvers, a steep loop.

"Are you trying to send us to the scrap yard?!" Knock Out asked nervous.

The ship put right behind Blaster. Now Astraea was the one who was trying to take down the other flyer. However, Blaster deployed his minion which put right behind them.

"What's that?" Astraea asked.

"Blaster's surveillance drone, Sundor. Laserbeak opposite." Knock Out recognized.

Now was Sundor the one who was firing at the ship. Blaster took the chance to continue on his way.

"Astraea, maintain pursuit. Blaster's merely using the drone to distract us." Knock Out advised.

"I welcome a good distraction." Astraea said.

Astraea allowed Sundor to follow them until she used another maneuver to get behind it.

"Now the hunter becomes the hunted." Astraea said firing again.

"I don't think this is the right time to be hot-dogging!" Knock Out shouted.

Astraea's ship chased Sundor through the clouds, until suddenly it disappeared.

"He's gone. Now we can go find…" Knock Out said until he screamed when the ship moved suddenly when Sundor reappeared.

The chase continued through the clouds. The ship followed the drone to a cliff. Astraea speeded up while Knock Out screamed at his loudest. Fortunately the ship evaded the cliff. Back to the sky, they spotted it coming at them, so Astraea fired at the same time as Sundor.

"What are you doing?" Knock Out asked in disbelief as both flyers got closer and closer. "Astraea?! ASTRAEA!"

Sundor passed above the ship, so Astraea turn around and managed to give it a shot, taking it down.

"Choke on that, Bot." Astraea said victorious.

"You did it." Knock Out added surprised.

But as it was falling Sundor managed to fire a few shots, and one hit the ship's engines, making it fall. It crash landed on another part of the forest.

"Uh, right thrusters fried." Astraea said after checking the engines.

"If you had pursuit Blaster as I instructed…" Knock Out began.

"His little birdie would still be pecking in our tailpipes." Astraea finished.

"Well, we need to resume our search for the relic immediately. I'm sure Blaster may already reach it." Knock Out said.

"My ship is not going anywhere. If you want to catch that Bot, we need to go by driving." Astraea said before she looked like she spotted something.

"Make up your mind! Are we walking or are we driving?" Knock Out asked impatiently.

Astraea pulled out her chainsaw swords when she and Knock Out discovered something very near in front of them: it was Sundor, but it looked like it was dead. Astraea began to approach to it slowly ready.

"Astraea, keep your distance. Sundor is the eyes and ears of Blaster." Knock Out warned.

She used one of her chainsaws to flip Sundor like a toy. "Not anymore, isn't it?"

Meanwhile, Blaster transformed and landed on the top of a mountain. He scanned the place until he located exactly where the relic was buried. At the same time, Knock Out was examining Sundor's condition.

"His operating systems appear functional but offline. It seems that the crash clearly damaged its optic and audio receptors." Knock Out observed.

"Guess someone is going to need a new snitch." Astraea said.

"A minor victory, one that Soundwave really would appreciate, but not the one we are here to achieve." Knock Out said turning around.

Then an idea came to Astraea's mind. "Hang on there, Doc Knock." That made him to groan again. "The situation is right for an old trick that I learn from the Wreckers."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Sooner or later, Blaster's gonna come looking for his pet. We let them reunite, return to base packing a live grenade. The first time when he reaches inside, he trips the pin and BOOM! Goodbye Autobot." She explained.

Knock Out remained silent for a moment until he thought about something. "Why plant a merely incendiary device, when we could plant a more devastating bomb?" He approached Sundor and changed his hand into a drill. "A virus. Engineered to pass from Sundor to Blaster." He said as he cut Sundor's back open. "Then directly into the Autobot warship's mainframe. Where it will transmit the contents of the entire Iacon database to us."

"That sounds complicated, made only for Soundwave. And I thought we were in a hurry." Astraea reminded.

"I'm sure Megatron would agree. Risking the loss of one relic to gain the rest is a worthwhile gamble." Knock Out answered.

"You really have the ways to pull out that kind of programming?" Astraea asked.

"Not me, but I'm sure Shockwave will. After all this virus is a creation of him, but it was never tested. But this could be a perfect chance to prove it, but he's on another mission. And I can't do it alone. I would require a backup." Knock Out said thinking about someone.

On the Decepticon base, Raf was busy with his computer while agent Silas was checking the base's terminals.

"Rafael, we have a situation." Knock Out called in.

In the mountain, Blaster reached above where the relic was buried, so he used his tentacles to dig in. Meanwhile, at base…

"If you can ride a source code for the virus, my scanner will translate it to cybertronian script as it uploads." Knock Out explained.

"I can do it, but if we want to keep the virus hidden from the Bots we'll need a decoy. You know, like a second virus." Raf said.

"Or something less complicated." Knock Out said looking at Astraea's grenade.

"A decoy as in we want them to find it, but it doesn't blow?" She asked.

"Correct."

"Seems like a waste of a perfectly good grenade if you ask my opinion." Astraea said as she handed the grenade to Knock Out and he pulled out its power core and planted it into Sundor.

"Wait a minute. A grenade inside of Sundor, inside of Blaster? Like a turducken!" Raf said.

"I'm sorry?" Knock Out asked confused.

"It's a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a… never mind." Raf finished.

Then Astraea began to walk away.

"And where are you off to?" Knock Out asked.

"To buy you some time. And who knows? Maybe to pick up a relic." Astraea said before she changed to her vehicle mode and drove right to the relic.

Blaster's tentacles finally reached to what it was heading and pulled out a small object from the ground. Then an engine noise caught his attention: on the cliff above him Astraea drove in. She transformed and tried to hit Blaster with her chainsaws, but Blaster managed to jump back in time.

"You dropped something." Astraea said.

Blaster looked to his tentacle and saw that it dropped the relic. He saw it was in the floor way down, so he returned his tentacles and prepared for battle.

"This should be fun." Astraea said.

She charged at Blaster before start attacking with her chainsaws, as Blaster simply evaded or blocked them with his arms. In one time one of Astraea's chainsaw swords almost hit Blaster's mask. The rumble continued until Blaster managed to hold one the chainsaws and steal it before he pushed Astraea with one of his tentacles. He examined Astraea's chainsaw before she charged again, making him to threw it at her, but she simply pushed it away. While she was in the air, Blaster grabbed her with his tentacle and smacked her against the floor a couple of times. While he grabbed her with one, Blaster readied his other tentacle to drill into Astraea's face. She caught it when it was nearly close to her face, but it continued approaching slowly, until she used it to hit the other tentacle. As Blaster backed up, Astraea jumped and heat-butted his face. That made an ugly scratch in his mask.

"That is what happens to anyone who tries to underestimate a girl." Astraea said.

Meanwhile…

"Rafael, I've hacked into Sundor's uplink transmitter. When you're ready, I will bring his operating systems back online in order to receive the transfer." Knock Out instructed.

While this happened, Astraea charged against Blaster firing lasers that hit him a couple of times before she kicked him out of the mountain. Blaster landed very hard in the ground, but he saw the relic next to him, just when Astraea aimed her weapon at him.

"Any last words?" She asked, but Blaster didn't say anything. "Right, silent type."

But as she charged her weapon, Blaster grabbed the relic with one of his tentacles and used the relic, which it was some kind of sonic weapon. The relic sent sonic waves that caused Astraea a lot of pain, to the point that she felt unconscious. Meanwhile with Knock Out…

"Knock Out, the virus is coded. Commencing upload." Raf reported.

The screen showed the virus uploading progress, seen by both Rafael as Knock Out. Then Sundor started to move, trying to take fly, so Knock Out grabbed it to pin him down. At the same time, as Astraea was a little awake, Blaster attached the sonic weapon to his hand; next he readied it and prepared to execute Astraea. But before he could fire he detected the frequency of Sundor, making him look to where the signal came, just where Knock Out was still holding it.

"Rafael, what is our progress?" Knock Out asked.

"50%." Raf answered.

"Doc Knock…" Astraea suddenly said through the com-link.

"Astraea, I told you not to call me that!" Knock Out yelled.

"I'm sorry." She said weakly.

That made Knock Out to worry. "What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I figure you got maybe two minutes." She said.

At those words Knock Out knew that Blaster was on his way towards him.

"Or less." He said. "Astraea, what's your condition? Astraea?" He asked, but he didn't receive response. "Rafael?"

"We're almost there." He said.

As Blaster was coming closer, Knock Out hid behind a big rock still holding Sundor. He saw in his monitor that the upload was almost completed. And when it was finished…

"Done." Raf reported.

After receive that new, Knock Out closed Sundor entrance and released it, but he dropped a part of its wing. Then Blaster transformed and landed there, Knock Out saw him hidden behind the rock. Blaster saw Astraea's ship and walked toward it scanning the area. Then he aimed the sonic weapon at the direction Knock Out was hidden.

"Scrap." Knock Out said quietly.

But he wasn't the reason why Blaster looked right there, it was Sundor. He picked it and placed it on his chest. When Knock Out saw him walking away he groaned trying not to slip. That alerted Blaster, who deployed his tentacles and moved them to Knock Out's hiding. Knock Out moved his hand in order to evade detection from one of them while the second one went over him. But they grabbed the piece that Sundor dropped. He put it inside Sundor again, transformed to his alt mode and flew away back to the Ark.

"Blaster has taken the bait. Astraea?" Knock Out called, but no response. "Scrap."

He transformed and drove towards where she might be. Meanwhile, Blaster returned the relic to his master once he was aboard the Ark.

"Ah, the Resonance Blaster. Crafted by Autobot scientists for maximum sonic devastation. Blaster, you have performed admirably. Unlike Ultra Magnus here, and his Wreckers, who somehow managed to lose the Apex Armor to Grimlock!" Optimus said.

"However, two more decrypted coordinates remain in play." Elita reminded looking at the screen.

"Indeed my dear, and I have every confidence that Ratchet will…" Optimus said when then he saw Ratchet's team entering the bridge.

"So, have you been successful?" Elita asked.

"Well, commander…." Arcee began.

"The thing is that…" Ratchet said when suddenly Smokescreen pushed them to a side as he advanced towards his leaders.

"Can you believe what the Decepticons did to me?!" He said mad referring to his appearance as result of the confrontation.

"Did you retrieve the relic?!" Optimus demanded.

"No, master." Smokescreen answered.

"Then I suggest you convince me of your continued usefulness by helping Ratchet examining Sundor." Optimus said.

Meanwhile in the mountain, Knock Out was driving towards the place where Astraea faced Blaster.

"Astraea!" He said when he saw her lying on the floor.

He helped her to get up.

"Just resting my optics. Ow, and my audio receptors." She said.

Aboard the Ark, Ratchet examined Blaster until he detected something.

"What is it?" Optimus asked.

"An obstruction of some source." Ratchet reported before Blaster opened Sundor to see what was inside.

"What is that?" Ratchet asked confused.

"Grenade!" Wheeljack recognized alarmed.

"Get cover!" Smokescreen said and covering himself.

"Ah, that is clever. Wheeljack, help Smokescreen to prepare to properly dispose of that obstruction." Ratchet instructed.

Next, Wheeljack came out of the lab with Smokescreen as he was carrying the grenade core with care.

"Take it easy and don't get nervous. And whatever you do don't move it so much because it will became more unstable by the pass of time." Wheeljack told.

"What?! Then we need to take care of it immediately!" Smokescreen said as he began to speed up.

"Smokey wait!" Wheeljack said before he ran after him.

Blaster placed Sundor back on his chest.

"Elita, if we are to maintain any advantage over the Decepticons." Optimus began before he heard an explosion. "Decoding the remainder of the Iacon database must remain my top priority. I will need that you take charge of all the leading functions alongside Ultra Magnus during that time, unless in case of extremely need or emergencies."

"I understand. You can count on me." Elita answered.

"Blaster, I will require your assistance." Optimus said.

Blaster nodded to his master. In that moment, Knock Out and Astraea were driving back to the ship's crash site.

"Rafael, send the ground bridge." Knock Out asked when they reached to the ship and transformed. "I still advise that you return to base. You require a thorough examination."

"The only thing I require right now is some hull seal-it. Trust me; my ship here is in more need of repair than me." Astraea said.

"Listen, Astraea. I want to thank you for your backup."

"No problem." She said beginning to fix her ship.

Then the ground bridge appeared and Knock Out walked towards it.

"See you around, Knock Out." Astraea said, making Knock Out smile.

Meanwhile, Blaster began to assist Optimus in decrypting the rest of the Iacon database as he inserted his tentacles in a terminal. And when Knock Out returned to base…

"Knock Out, come here!" Raf called as he pointed to the screen.

"The Iacon database?" Knock Out asked amazed.

"It's downloading into our main frame!" Raf added.

Knock Out laughed by happiness. "Rafael, you're a genius!"

That made Raf smile. Something similar happened in the Ark.

"So, we're not stuck with the Iacon database?" Rachet asked.

"Of course not. Believe me Ratchet, Optimus will provide the coordinates to the remaining relics. And of course Blaster will help him to speed things up." Elita reassured.

"Yes. We are fortunate to have him on our side, lady Elita One." Smokescreen supported, still a little dirty because of the grenade's explosion.

"And see about repairing his cracked visor. Will you?"

"Of course Elita." Ratchet answered.

Once Smokescreen was alone, he looked to Blaster before he looked down in defeat. Meanwhile in the Decepticon base…

"Starscream and Breakdown are coming through, agent Silas." Raf reported after he opened the ground bridge.

"I can't wait to share the news, especially with my great buddy. I am going to enjoy telling him about my great time with Astraea." Knock Out said excited.

But then, Starscream and Breakdown came flying through the vortex. Next they lay on the floor with smoke coming from their backs.

"No." Knock Out said as he, Raf and Silas saw them in horror, without knowing what happened to them.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter Forty- Toxic Hunting**

The Ark was flying inside the deep space when suddenly another cybertronian ship met with it. This was more sinister, with two long wings pointed up. A small ship came out from its hangar, some kind of cybertronian gunship, and headed to the Ark's hangar. When it landed inside, Optimus Prime was waiting with his troops. A group of soldiers, like a black version of the Vehicons, came out from the ship, but it was not them who Optimus expected, it was the one who came out after them: their leader, a black cybertronian with little green touches and green eyes who looked like a hunter. He walked until he was in front of the Autobot leader.

"I was not sure if you had received my calling." Optimus said.

"I guess you already have your answer." The new cybertronian said as he came closer to Prime. "Let me clarify it, Prime. Your cause matters to me the least, war does not mean anything to me but a big business. So I just came for the great offer you mentioned in your message. Which is the work?"

"You will retrieve something for me. A relic of which I am very interested in owning." Optimus explained.

"A simple scavenging hunt? I believed you wanted to hire me for something more exciting." He questioned.

"Your mission is to locate, secure the relic and deliver it to me. And to annihilate everything that gets in your way. Trust me, you will know what I mean when you discover that your ex-comrades are present in this world." Optimus added.

That made him smirk. "So the war is still going on here. That changes everything, and so as the prize."

"That would not be a problem." Optimus said as they saw a couple of Autobot troopers giving them a bunch of energon cubes and other materials to the other soldiers.

"In that case, we have a deal."

"I did not expect less, especially from a mercenary like you, Lockdown."

Minutes later, the same gunship reached to an open area, near to a volcano. Lockdown and a few soldiers came out before the ship left.

"What are you orders, sir?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Scatter, and report about anything you find. We don't know exactly what we're looking for, and who other else is looking the same." Lockdown instructed before he transformed into a muscle car and drove away.

Meanwhile, inside the Decepticon base, Airachnid and Stinger already departed with Jack and Miko.

"Starscream, prepare for departure." Megatron said.

"You're heading for the Ecuador." Shockwave reported.

"Ha, a proper tropical weather. Perfect to test my flying skills, Seeker style!" Starscream said excited.

"Rafael and agent Silas will be your communication and transportation hub." Megatron said as Starscream looked to Raf, who waved his hand, and Silas, who was still in bed.

"I call as cheese burger!" Silas said before he went off again.

That made Raf and Starscream laughed a little. "Communications? I will prefer that he still dreaming crazy stuff. I will do well with Rafael alone." He said as he transformed in front of the ground bridge.

"Be on your guard, Starscream." Megatron advised before he flew through the vortex.

Starscream transformed when he came out of the ground bridge before it disappeared. He looked around to see that he arrived to a volcanic place, next to a volcano.

"Aw, smells worse than an Autobot barracks. Fine place to hide a relic." He said.

Starscream walked around a place with a lot of volcanic pits with smoke coming out.

"Base, I can't find any sign of the relic. Can you reconfirm coordinates?" Starscream asked through the com-link.

"Triangulating your position, Starscream." Raf said as he typed some calculations on the terminal. "You're at the correct location."

In that moment agent Silas woke up and got up from the medical berth. "Need…coffee."

"Well, I believe the coordinates are wrong, because there is nothing here." Starscream said, but he stopped when he heard a weird noise, like an engine. "But something is coming."

Then Starscream spotted something coming towards him faster. He fired his laser guns at it, but the car pulled out its own laser guns and blocked the shots alongside a grenade launcher that came out of its top, so it finally dragged him. Then the black car transformed and threw him to the floor, but fortunately Starscream saw his attacker coming and dodged him before he could strike he blocked his attacks and he kicked him back. His attacker was covering his face with a mask.

"Are you so terrified that you cannot even show your face? Show yourself, coward!" Starscream challenged.

"Brave words coming from you, Starscream."

"Do I know you?" Starscream asked confused.

"No, but I know very well your kind. Especially if I have been one of yours in the past." The attacker said pulling out his mask, revealing his identity.

"Lockdown?! What are you doing here? Cursed traitor." Starscream demanded.

"Business. I have been hired to deliver something very important, something hidden somewhere in this place."

"So you have been sent by Optimus, don't you?" Starscream deduced.

"Exactly. War periods generate countless chances for bounty hunters like me, so I go where the war goes." Lockdown told.

"Then you've done wrong to come here, because I'm going to make justice for all the old comrades that you betrayed and killed." Starscream said as he prepared his claws.

"Try it, commander. I'm sure taking down someone important as Megatron's second in command will guarantee me a good trophy." Lockdown said pulling out a hook from his hand.

Starscream made a few scratches to Lockdown, but when he tried to slash him again Lockdown grabbed his hand before he slashed him with his hook and threw him to the ground. Lockdown turned his other hand into a sharp thing and tried to strike Starscream's head, but he dodged it, making him to get stuck in the ground. Starscream took the chance and began to shot missiles and lasers at Lockdown. While he tried to get out his hand, Lockdown evaded the missiles and received a few shots from Starscream's lasers, but once he was free he fired from his shoulders his own missiles, which impacted with Starscream's missiles. That created a big smoke cloud which Lockdown used to approached Starscream and punched his head, but Starscream managed to slash Lockdown's face with his claws before he could strike again, leaving an ugly scar on his face. Next Starscream turned on his back engine to charge against Lockdown and kicked his face very hard. That left Lockdown on the ground still.

"If it were for me I would root your spark here and now, Lockdown." Starscream said as he wiped some energon leaking from his mouth and he looked some tracks. "But surely your mercenaries can't be far away, so I better find the relic before they do."

Starscream transformed and followed the tracks by air. Meanwhile at base, Raf was busy with another issue.

"Knock Out, the virus is coded. Commencing upload." Raf reported.

"Raf, I have a beat on the relic." Starscream called in.

"Raf's busy. I'll take it from here."

"Silas. How was your beauty sleep?" Starscream mocked.

"Fine. I dreamt I finally got little respect from you."

"He! Keep dreaming."

"What's your status?" Silas asked.

"I came up empty with the provided coordinates, but I figured up a lava flow might have carried the relic downhill." Starscream suggested.

"Won't that just burned up?" Silas asked.

"These relics survived interstellar transport. I'm sure they can withstand melty…oh scrap."

"What it is?" Silas asked.

"I'm leaking energon. It seems Lockdown hit me hard."

"Lockdown? Who is him?" Silas asked.

"A traitor of the worst kind. He was one of our best warriors, until he left our ranks for a simple life as a bounty hunter. He probably knocked a gasket, so nothing to worry about. Trust me, he's in way worse shape than I am." Starscream said.

Right in that moment, the mercenaries arrived to where Lockdown was lying, and then he came back.

"Sir! Are you fine?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Yes. The Seeker left me alive. The last mistake he will ever make." Lockdown said as he looked the same tracks. "Now the hunter becomes the prey."

Lockdown and his mercenaries transformed and followed the tracks too. Moments later, Starscream arrived to where the relic's capsule lay.

"Ah, there you are." He said after he transformed and walked toward it.

He started to try to open it, but it was more difficult that it looked. Fortunately Starscream came with the idea of using his claws to create an opening, and next he opened it immediately.

"It got the lift off." He mocked to himself. Next he walked to see what was inside the capsule, but what he found left him horrified. "Oh no. Base, we have a problem."

"Starscream, what is it?" Silas asked.

"I found the relic. It's a cash of energon."

"That's good, no?" Silas asked.

"No, no this kind. It's a poisonous variant known as Tox-En. Causes nausea and dizziness upon contact. Prolonged exposure weakness us to the point of paralysis, and then… it snuffs off our sparks." Starscream explained.

"Well, what are you talking to me for? Get far away from that Tox-En, pronto. If it is deadly as they said, the Bots won't want it either." Silas said.

"No! That's the reason why they'll want it even more!" Starscream shouted. "During the war for Cybertron, the Doctor of Doom figured out a way to refine raw Tox-En. Turn it into a weapon of mass destruction. I witnessed an entire unit wiped out by the sickness. I lost a lot of good comrades because of it." Starscream told as he remembered a scene of Cybertron where a group of Decepticons died by the effects of the Tox-En. "No way I can leave this stuff for the Bots to find and abuse."

"So bring it back here. Raf, open the ground bridge." Silas said to him.

"Forget it!" Starscream yelled. "Even if Shockwave had a safe place to store it, the stuff's way to potent to risk exposing to the rest of us."

Then Starscream heard an engine noise coming closer.

"I'll call you back." Starscream said as he though to something. "I'm gonna need to take care of this, Seeker style." He said pulling out a missile from his arm.

Lockdown and his mercenaries approached to the area until he saw the capsule from the distance.

"There!" Lockdown pointed.

The mercenaries transformed and approached it, as Lockdown stood a distance. The mercenary with more range pushed the others to a side as he opened the capsule. He was going to take the Tox-En without knowing that it had a missile inserted.

"No! Wait!" Lockdown ordered.

Too late, the missile exploded. The closest mercenary was caught by the explosion and became a lot of pieces, while the others died by the effects of Tox-En. Another group of mercenary tanks and heavy soldiers arrived and approached to the dying troopers.

"Don't get too close!" Lockdown warned as he examined the bodies of his soldiers before he took a few steps back. "Just what I thought, Tox-En."

Meanwhile in other part, Starscream was running with the remaining Tox-En in hand.

"Wait! You're carrying it? I thought that stuff was toxic." Silas said.

"Indeed it is. But I needed to put some distance between me and the mercenaries." Starscream answered.

"Well, now what?" Silas asked.

"I'm gonna get rid of this steamy pile the only way I can." Starscream said as he placed it to the floor and looked to the volcano. "I'm going to lobbing it into the volcano."

"What about your traitor's problem?" Silas reminded.

"This isn't my first time eluding an enemy patrol, you know." Starscream said as he cleaned a little energon which came from his mouth and before he spat out a little drop.

Meanwhile, the mercenaries still were at the same place.

"Sir, we have a direct com-link with the Autobot warship." One of his soldiers reported.

"Prime, it seems that the object you seek it is Tox-En." Lockdown communicated.

"Exactly how much is in your possession?" Optimus asked.

"None. Probably that Decepticon…" Lockdown began.

"Are you not the best bounty hunter?" Optimus cut off. "Then prove it!"

Silas followed Starscream's position with the scanner's help.

"Wait. You're moving away from the volcano?" Silas asked.

"Exactly." Starscream answered as he continued running, leaving an energon trail.

Lockdown and his mercenaries continued the search until he spotted something.

"Below."

Lockdown discovered Starscream's energon trail. He examined it as he picked a drop with his finger.

"Hum, just what it thought. He leaks from his wounds, so this will be easier. Find him." Lockdown ordered.

The mercenaries scattered around the area while Lockdown climbed to a rock wall with his hook. At the same time, Starscream tried to fly to the volcano carrying the Tox-En in his vehicle form, but it was being harder than he believed.

"You drop a false trail, huh? I once put that trick when I got separated from my unit behind enemy lines." Silas told.

"When were you ever been behind enemy lines?" Starscream asked.

"I wasn't always a Decepticon sitter."

"He. Next you're gonna tell me your carrier doesn't tuck you in at night."

"Not since basic training."

"Training as what?" Starscream asked interested.

"I was trained in the ways of special operations. We can wreck with the best of them." Silas explained.

"Who know you and I were so much alike." Starscream said.

"Indeed. By the way, what is a carrier?" Silas asked confused.

"In cybertronian language, we refer that way to what you humans call mother." Starscream clarified.

"Rafael, has agent Silas regained consciousness?" Megatron called through the com-link.

"Stand by, commander. I'll be right back." Silas said.

"About that." Starscream called. "Please let lord Megatron know that I require help. I guess this is becoming bigger for me alone."

"Understood." Silas said before he pressed the other line. "I'm here, Megatron. What's your situation?"

"I require access to a research facility at my current coordinates." Megatron explained.

"Let me make a call." Silas said as he grabbed his com-link device.

Starscream struggled flying up a slope, but he was getting tired so faster until he returned to his robot mode and slid down due to the exposure.

"A dangerous task…that only a Seeker can do." Starscream said grabbing the Tox-En and making his way to the volcano again.

Meanwhile, at base…

"This is an emergency. Our satellites have detected dangerous solar flare activity. I need that entire station evacuated immediately. Do you hear me? Get out of there now!" Silas communicated to the station before passing to Megatron. "Base is clear, Megatron. Try not to wreck the place."

"Many thanks, agent Silas." Megatron said.

"Other thing: Starscream requires backup immediately." Silas reminded.

"Understood. I'm sending Breakdown to assist him."

With all that settled, Silas returned to Starscream's link.

"Starscream, how are you holding up?" Silas asked.

"Arg, a little tired right here." He answered.

Just in that moment the ground bridge was activated and Breakdown came through it. "Where am I needed?"

"Hold right there, help is on its way." Silas said before he marked the bridge to Starscream's location.

The Tox-En effects were affecting Starscream too much that he could not stand on his feet. He was going to fall, but suddenly someone grabbed his hand.

"Heh? Breakdown? What are you doing here?"

"Giving you a hand. Hand in there Commander, this is not your time." Breakdown said as he helped Starscream to get up and grabbed the Tox-En with the other hand. "I got him, Silas. The mission keeps on. Anyway, any word from Miko?"

"Oh please, the least that I need now is that maybe she got into another problem or she has fallen into enemy hands." Starscream groaned.

"I just want only to know how she is doing." Breakdown defended.

"Don't worry about her. You need to focus on your own mission." Silas reminded.

"Right. I need to…rest…just for a minute." Starscream said.

"I know it's tough, but I need you to stay the course." Silas said.

Breakdown tripped over a rock and dropped the Tox-En. Then Starscream was going to handle it.

"Starscream, no!" Breakdown yelled.

But Starscream already grabbed it, causing him to fall back feeling dizzy.

"Breakdown? Starscream!" Silas yelled.

"Come on, Screamer. You can't let down our leader." Breakdown said trying to cheer him up."

"Breakdown!" Starscream suddenly yelled. "I told you hundreds of times to not call me that."

"I know. But Miko loves it, it makes her laugh." Breakdown said.

"What happened?"

"Don't worry, Silas. The commander was only checking his wings." Breakdown said.

"You had me scared, Seeker." Silas said.

"Let's go." Breakdown said giving him a hand.

"I…I can't do it." Starscream said.

"What?!" Breakdown yelled surprised.

"I do not want to hear that kind of talk, especially from someone like you!"

"Silas is right. We all know you made it through worse, even worse than me. Remember all the bad things that happened to me?" Breakdown continued.

Then appeared a flashback of when Breakdown was attacked by the scraplets, when Grimlock attacked him with the energon harvester, when he and Bulkhead clashed their weapons together, when he was caught by the ground bridge explosion, the many times Bulkhead hit him badly, when he covered Miko from the ceiling coming down and when he had a bomb on his chest.

"No, all that you have passed is not worse than this. Not even the scraplets." Starscream answered.

"Look commander. You two know as well as I do that there's a mission, and the reason why you take the mission." Silas said.

"Honor…duty." Starscream said.

"Not only that. There's still something more important." Breakdown said.

"Exactly what?" Starscream asked.

"Family. We all have family, which is why we need to do whatever it takes to finish this job and come home safely. I know Miko would do the same." Breakdown said as he remembered all the times when he was with Miko.

" _Miko, I'm supposed to be protecting you, and I don't know it this is secured for you_."

" _Breakdown, I'm strapped inside five tons of metal muscle. I'm protected." Miko stated._

" _Miko, check it out! New battle scars!" Breakdown announced to her, so she took another picture with her phone._

" _Miko?"_

" _I threw up on your floor mats, sorry."_

" _Look Miko, before I became a Stunticon I worked in some different jobs, like construction. I can build stuff, I can break stuff, and that's it."_

" _I wanna be just like you, Breaky."_

" _No. You need to stop, now."_

" _I can't, Breaky. I have to get you out of here."_

" _Breakdown, I know somewhere inside you, you'll always remember me. And I just want you to know…I'll never forget you." Miko said sadly as she hugged Breakdown's leg._

Breakdown finished remembering as Starscream began to smiling.

"He, you know what? When Megatron rescue me and my family when our home was taking by the Autobots I swore that I would dedicate my life to serve him with all my spark, and that I will never stop following him no matter how strong the danger was or how bigger the challenge was. And my siblings swore the same thing, but for me." Starscream told as he began to get up. "You're right, you two. I've gotta dig deep. For the other Seekers, for the other Cons. For lord Megatron."

And Breakdown took his hand. "For Miko."

The two Decepticons continued their path to the top of the volcano. Meanwhile, Lockdown was checking the trail with his mercenaries.

"Hm, there is no logic to his movements. His trail is meant to lead us astray, well played Seeker. To find him we must not follow." Lockdown said as he looked at the volcano and laughed as he activated his helmet. "We must anticipate."

Finally the two Decepticons reached to the volcano.

"There is…the hole where we have to throw this toxic energon." Starscream pointed.

"Almost there. Just hang on a little more, commander." Breakdown cheered.

"That's right, soldiers! Dump that rock and come back home!" Silas encouraged through the com-link.

Then Silas heard his communicator ring and picked it up.

"Silas. Miko, what is it? What in the name of God?! Listen, I'm in the middle of a crisis here! And you want me to…Oh…Put him on the line." Silas answered.

The two Cons walked slowly towards the lava hole, but then Starscream heard something.

"Wait! I would recognize that sound anywhere."

"What sound?" Breakdown asked.

"Down!" Starscream said pushing Breakdown to the ground.

A couple of missiles flew above them.

"Starscream!"

They looked in front of them and saw Lockdown coming out of the smoke.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up again." Starscream admitted.

"I must admit that I have underestimated you, good tactic. And I see you brought a friend here, and nothing more than a Stunticon." Lockdown admitted.

"Who's that guy?" Breakdown asked.

"One of ours, at least it was." Starscream answered.

"That boulder you have is the reason they paid me, and I never leave a job half-way." Lockdown said as three mercenary leapers came from the sky around them. "So I will ask you nicely: put down the rock and allow me to put you out of your misery."

"We gotta swat some renegades." Starscream declared.

"Allow me." Breakdown said charging against one of the leapers.

Breakdown started a close combat fight with the first leaper as Starscream managed to shot down another who jumped above him with a missile. Lockdown prepared his hook and another sharp weapon and charged towards Starscream, who besides being very weak prepared his claws for the combat, but he decided to use another thing: when Lockdown was too close Starscream used the Tox-En as he jammed it on Lockdown's throat.

"Don't get too close. I'm contagious." Starscream said.

As result Lockdown fell to his knees trying to catch his breath. The last leaper tried to charge against him, but Breakdown took the chance that he knocked out the first one for a moment and hit the third with his hammer.

"He's all yours, commander." Breakdown said as he returned with the first leaper.

"Many spark felt thanks, Breakdown. Here, hold this." Starscream said as he put the Tox-En on the leaper's chest, immobilizing him.

After that, Starscream returned to his fight with Lockdown. And at that same moment at base…

"Mr. Vogel, this is agent Silas of the United States Government. You are hereby deputized as an honorary agent for the department of…interstellar relations." Silas said before he hung off the phone. "Breakdown, you're still with us?"

"We're in the scrap and you put us on hold?" Breakdown said sarcastically.

"I want you to know that Miko is safe. Mission accomplished." Silas communicated.

"That's my girl." Breakdown said before he charged at the leaper firing before he crushed his head with his hammer. "Don't believe that because we're called Stunticons we're only made for speed."

Then he saw Starscream and Lockdown punching each other. As Breakdown was going to help him, the last leaper shook the Tox-En off of him. He tried to get up, but he felt back to the floor.

"This is getting tougher than I expected. Contact the warship for a containment unit." Lockdown ordered.

Before Breakdown could punch him, Lockdown grabbed his hand and punched him so hard that he fell to the volcanic soil. Both Decepticons began to see things very dizzy by the Tox-En effects besides a headache.

"Breakdown, Starscream, do you read me?" Silas asked through the com-link.

Just in that moment Knock Out returned to base.

"Knock Out, come here!" Raf called as he pointed to the screen.

"Guys! Please respond!" Silas repeated.

"The Iacon database?" Knock Out asked amazed.

"It's downloading into our main frame!" Raf added.

"Answer me, soldiers!" Silas repeated again.

Knock Out laughed by happiness. "Rafael, you're a genius!"

"Why don't you keep it down?!" Silas shouted, leaving Raf and Knock Out confused.

Back in the volcano, Starscream and Breakdown were still on their knees.

"Perhaps that rock will be on Prime's hands, but your sparks will be mine, Decepticons. As well as your heads will stand as my trophies." Lockdown said approaching them.

Lockdown prepared to give them the final hit, but Starscream activated his engine in the last moment to tackle him. During the flight he grabbed Lockdown by his head and threw him next to the Tox-En. After he removed his helmet, Starscream allowed Breakdown to grab Lockdown and pinned his face against the Tox-En.

"You want a taste of this? Do ya?!" Breakdown yelled.

After a couple of moments, he set Lockdown free and prepared his hammer. He hit him alongside Starscream who kicked him on the chest, before he grabbed the Tox-En.

"You want this? Catch!" Starscream shouted as he lobbed it to Lockdown.

Lockdown caught it, but the force from the throw pushed him back into the opening. The two Cons walked to the opening and saw the Tox-En being melted in the lava.

"At least this is the last time I see this kind of energon." Starscream said in relief as he sit on the floor tired.

"Silas, mission accomplished. But you might have to tuck us in." Breakdown reported.

"Raf, open the bridge, now!" Silas said.

Raf went to his laptop to open the ground bridge. When the portal appeared, both Decepticons walked towards it. But Starscream was too weak that he felt halfway.

"I believe that this skirmish has left me for the scrapyard." Starscream said on his knees.

"Come on, commander. Let's go home." Breakdown said picking him up.

But when they were close to the portal, Lockdown emerged from the opening with his whole body in hot and smoking.

"You will regret this, Cons. No one make me this and lives to tell it!" Lockdown cursed.

Then Lockdown began to turn his head into a big cannon, he aimed it to them and fired a huge projectile. The shot made an explosion behind them and sent both flying through the portal to the base.

"No." Knock Out said as he, Raf and Silas saw them in horror, without knowing what happened to them.

Now they were lying on the floor with smoke coming from their backs.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter Forty One- Vengeance**

Back to New York, Airachnid, Shockwave and Stinger were driving through the ground bridge portal while Jack was inside his partner and Miko inside Stinger listening rock music.

"We got the phase shifter! And we mess up Smokescreen's face! Oh yeah!" Miko said following the song's rhythm.

Then Stinger turned off the radio.

"Hey!" Miko objected.

"( **Enough. I can't believe you and Breakdown like this kind of music.** )" Stinger said.

"Let me guess. You and Raf spend all your drive-time listening the Chip Toons." Miko said.

"( **What? No, we listen all different kind of music.** )" Stinger said.

"Well it's been fun, but I'm ready to get back with my regularly scheduled partner, Breakdown…AAAH!" Miko suddenly screamed as she saw Breakdown down alongside Starscream.

Immediately Stinger stopped and allowed Miko to get out before he transformed.

"Breakdown, respond! Come on Starscream!" Knock Out said trying to revive them with his electric staff.

"Breakdown? Breakdown?!" Miko said before Silas grabbed her. "What happened to them?"

"Tox-En exposure, among other things. Starscream and Breakdown have suffered a complete systems failure." Knock Out explained.

"Hold on. Tox-En? How long have they been exposed?" Shockwave asked worried.

"I can't tell. The only thing I know is that Starscream has been exposed more time than Breakdown." Knock Out reported as he checked their life signals. "Help me get them into the medical bay, now!"

Shockwave and Knock Out carried Breakdown as Airachnid and Stinger carried Starscream but neither of them showed any effort to move. Miko saw the same injure Breakdown had on his back as well Starscream had.

"No!" Miko said before she got free. "If I haven't gone to New York."

"There's nothing you could have done. Lockdown sucker punched them while they were down." Silas said.

"Who?" Miko asked interested.

"Some rogue Decepticon, it doesn't matter. Point is it's not your fault. You got that?" Silas said.

"Got it." Miko answered as she, Raf, Jack and Silas continued watching how the Decepticons continued helping their injured comrades.

Meanwhile, inside the Ark, someone was really mad.

"How is this possible?! Four relics, each within our grasp, and yet only Blaster has returned with something other than an excuse." Optimus said as he walked next all the Autobots who went to the relic hunt missions, and Lockdown was present too in the end of the line. "I was expecting more about you, Lockdown. It is supposed that you are the best bounty hunter of all. What is your excuse?"

"None. I admit that I failed to retrieve the Tox-En, but fortunately the two Decepticons who stood in my way: the red Stunticon and the Seekers' leader have been terminated." Lockdown said, still with his armor burned.

By hearing that Optimus calmed down. "Then perhaps this day is not lost after all."

"If that is true. Because it has been a while since anyone has extinguished a Decepticon spark." Ratchet stated.

"Because it has been a while since a true warrior, one who truly knows his former comrades, has been provided the opportunity to do so." Lockdown defended.

"Really? I thought that even a simple Insectobot could be more useful than a handful of mercenaries." Arcee said mad.

"And let's not forget that the bug under our recent command was utterly useless." Smokescreen added.

"So if that's true, what really makes you believe that you had success in defeating them?" Bee continued.

"Watch your words, Autobots." Lockdown menaced.

"I have only these words for you: it was supposed that if someone was going to extinguish Breakdown's spark it was going to be me!" Bulkhead shouted.

"Enough!" Optimus yelled. "Lockdown, are you certain that Starscream and Breakdown were exterminated?"

"By my very own hands, Prime. I only regret not been able to retrieve their heads as my trophies."

Back to the Decepticon base, Knock Out hooked life support to both injured Decepticons while the rest of the team waited. Meanwhile, Silas was talking by the phone.

"Understood sir." He said before he hung up. "Turns out highlights of your Big Apple adventure got caught on security tape. The Pentagon needs me to run interference with the Mayor." He sighed as he looked the injured. "I…tried to stall but…"

"Go where you are needed, agent Silas. There is nothing more you can do for Breakdown and Starscream at this time." Megatron said.

"Keep me posted Megatron. I mean it." Silas said before he went by the elevator.

"Slipstream is on her way." Airachnid reported, but she didn't know that Miko heard that.

"I can't believe you're giving up on them already!" She shouted.

"All I meant was Slipstream and Starscream are siblings, and really close. I thought she want to be here." Airachnid explained.

"I know what you meant!" Miko said as she walked to the elevator.

"Miko, where are you going?" Shockwave asked.

"Home! While agent Silas can still give me a lift." She said before she entered.

Airachnid was about to go after her, but Megatron stopped her. "She needs time."

Time later, Knock Out finally have good news.

"Starscream and Breakdown are stable, for the moment. But I had to induce stasis." He reported.

In that moment all heard an engine noise coming from the entrance, next they saw a pink plane very similar to Starscream's alt form, so it can only be his sister: Slipstream. She transformed when she reached the main hall.

"I came as fast as I could when you gave me the news. What's the damage?" She asked worried.

"Both have suffered massive trauma to their central nervous conduits, but I fear that Starscream's condition could be more serious than Breakdown giving the fact that he has suffered more." Shockwave explained.

"I've watched your work. No one can rival you." Slipstream said.

"The Tox-En exposure has caused system wide-shut down on a sub-micronic level. We can't even to begin to operate until they regain some strength." Knock Out said.

Then Slipstream's face changed to a mad one as she looked to Megatron. "Are you going to tell me who did this to my brother?"

"At the moment I believe it is best to focus our attention on their recovery, rather than revenge." Megatron answered.

"You do that, I will take care of the rest." She said before she transformed and left the base.

"Slipstream will most likely do something rash, you know." Shockwave told to Megatron.

"And I am not sure we could stop her if we wanted too." Megatron added.

Slipstream's ship blasted off and flew away from the base. She set the coordinates to her destiny and put the ship on autopilot. Then she heard a sound behind her, so she turned her hand into a blaster gun and looked for the intruder. She did not found anything until she looked down to see Miko.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Going after the one who hurt Breakdown. Are you in?" Miko said.

"I'm taking you back." Slipstream answered as she transformed her weapon and went back to the pilot seat.

"No, wait!"

"Miko, I understand you. You want payback, just like me."

"I know that Starscream is your brother, and Breakdown is my partner."

"Trust me, when I find out which one of Prime's bullies jumped our boys I'll take care of him. By my way." Slipstream said as she put one missile on her arm.

"It wasn't an Autobot, it was a Decepticon." Miko said.

That let Slipstream surprised. "A traitor? Who?"

"Take me and I'll tell you." Miko offered.

Meanwhile, on the Ark…

"You should have seen those Cons' face as their sparks expired. Knowing that they perished at the hands of a true hunter, and one of their own! From now Optimus Prime will understand that the most dangerous tasks are best assigned to guys like us." Lockdown said as he walked through the Ark's corridors alongside two of his mercenaries.

They passed an Insectobot and two Autobot soldiers, a boy and a girl, who looked them in anger.

"Pit-bound scavengers." The male Autobot said.

"Scrap-eaters." The female Autobot said.

"Clankers." The Insectobot said.

But then the mercenaries stopped and turned at them. "What did you say?"

In that moment, Ratchet finished fixing all the injured and now was inside his lab.

"Ah, finally peace and quiet. I'm not a big fan of field missions; this is where I really feel at ease."

But before he could start with his own duties he heard some shot noises outside, followed by some shaking.

"By Primus. What is going on out there?!" Ratchet yelled as he walked to the door. "Who is making all that noise…AH!"

Ratchet closed the door before an Insectobot was thrown at him. When he opened it again he saw the Insectobot firing against Lockdown, who was charging against it. He prepared his hook to strike the Insectobot, but it dodged at the last moment and hit Ratchet in its place. Ratchet saw that the hit broke one of his tools.

"Fools! I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet yelled so loud that was heard all over the ship.

"Did you guys hear that?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah, sound like the doctor has lost one of his tools." Cliff said.

Smokescreen laughed. "That I do not miss." He said running to the scene.

Somewhere outside a forest, an Autobot soldier was guarding a cave's entrance, but he wasn't aware that he was being watched by Slipstream and Miko, who were hiding between the trees.

"You know where to find Autobot mines?" Miko asked.

"You didn't think I've just sitting on my can when I usually come back to this planet." Slipstream answered.

"But shouldn't we be searching for a mercenary's camp?" Miko asked again.

"The protocol of the mercenaries is not the same as the standard military, to really attract them you have to force the contractor to send them. That's why we're going to make some noise." Slipstream explained.

"And get the Bots to hand over Lockdown." Miko deduced.

"Now you came to help, right? Then you can sneak in there and scope things out a lot easier than I can." Slipstream suggested.

Moments later, Miko was inside the energon mine, using her phone's camera to show Slipstream the inside.

"We got five. Maybe six troopers in the main cavern. And two more keeping an eye on things on the second floor." Miko reported.

Slipstream was seeing everything inside her ship. "Well done, Miko. Get going."

"Huh, there's another chamber." Miko informed as she zoomed to a chamber full of energon cubes. "Looks like they're just using it to storage."

Then she heard a static sound.

"Slipstream, you there?" Miko asked, fearing the worst.

Then an explosion sounded and an Autobot trooper came flying next to her. Then she saw Slipstream entering in her jet mode firing lasers and two missiles. Next she transformed and started attacking them with missiles and her electrified whips. Miko was forced to lock for cover as she was in middle of the battlefield. She hid in middle of the pile of energon cubes, just then Slipstream finished with the last Autobot.

"Now what?" Miko asked after she recovered her breath.

"We'll send a message to Optimus." Slipstream answered.

Meanwhile on the Ark's bridge, there was another kind of conflict.

"Just look what they've done!" Ratchet shouted as he showed his tool.

"Don't get so dramatic, old friend. We can make some replacements." Optimus said.

"I'm not talking about my tools, Optimus. It is about them." Ratchet said pointing at Lockdown and his mercenaries.

"I'm with Ratchet. These mercenaries are creating dissension among our ranks since they arrived." Bumblebee supported.

"These savages are a threat to this warship, and its crew." Ratchet continued.

"I suggested that they should be confined." Smokescreen suggested.

"Better restrained." Wheeljack added.

"Whatever you try on us, we'll not be intimidated." Lockdown said behind them.

"Then perhaps you should return to your own ship or we'll take you out by force." Wheeljack menaced pulling out his swords as well Smokescreen activated his weapons.

"Lady Elita One, we're receiving an emergency transmission from mine TVC-15." A female Autobot trooper reported from a console.

"What seems to be the problem?" Elita asked.

"Unclear, my lady. The caller will speak only to you or lord Optimus Prime."

Elita went up to the console and pressed the response button. "What is it?"

"Nice operation you got here, Elita. Although technically, you might say it's under… new management."

"Slipstream. The most known of all the female flyers." Elita recognized.

"What can I say, chief? I'm on containable, and right now I'm sitting on top of your big, juicy mining ops." Slipstream warned.

"The loss of one asset is hardly a blow to the Autobot cause." Elita answered.

"Maybe, but I'm going to keep on hitting them. One by one, until you give me what I want."

"And what, pray tell, would that be?" Elita asked.

"The traitor scum who tried to frag Starscream and Breakdown!" Slipstream demanded.

That left Elita surprised. "Tried? Are you saying the Decepticons lives?" She asked as everyone looked at Lockdown.

"Impossible. She's bluffing!" Lockdown defended.

"Wouldn't bet on it. So here's the deal: I'm going to transmit the coordinates of my next target. If Lockdown cares to meet me there, maybe he can save you from another loss, and defend his reputation. And Elita, just in case you ever wondered what three tons of exploding energon sounds like." Slipstream said as she pressed a red button on the control wheel, while Miko looked with all attention.

That made the ship to launch two missiles which entered the cave, which made the entire mine to explode while the ship left. Just like Slipstream said, that was heard on the Ark too.

"You allowed the Decepticons to live?!" Optimus said very mad.

"Hmph, bounty hunters. Not all the good as they speculate." Bee smirked.

"Prime, I swear upon the Allspark. The Decepticons could have not survived their wounds. No one has managed to survive when I'm hunting them." Lockdown said as he backed up as Optimus advanced towards him.

"Then you owe me a spark. And if it's not the one bellowing to Breakdown or Starscream, it better be Slipstream's. Otherwise I'll make sure everyone knows my new point of view about you, that of a braggart and a liar!" Optimus proclaimed seriously.

As Slipstream's ship was heading to the meeting location, she saw that Miko was dozing off.

"Maybe you need a power down for a while." Slipstream suggested.

"I'm good." Miko said. "They're going to make it, right?"

"Of course, kid. Starscream's the best flyer I've ever known. And I don't know much about Breakdown, but I heard he's the toughest of all Stunticons. And with the help of Knock Out and Shockwave, there is nothing to fear, they're in good hands." Slipstream reassured.

"Yeah. There is no way Breaky could miss all the stuff we have planned. Like car sledding, we've been making a list." Miko said.

"Like I said, they're too strong to not pull through. I know it and I'm sure you do too." Slipstream said, but she found Miko sleeping already.

Finally the ship arrived to inside a canyon, the place where the meeting was supposed to happen. The landing woke Miko up.

"I'm up!" Miko said getting up. "What's the plan?"

"Miko, if anything happens to me, press this button." Slipstream said pointing a blue button. "I've preset the autopilot to get you back to Megatron's base."

"What? No way, we had a deal! You said I could help!" Miko objected.

"And you did, but it ends here." Slipstream said as she got off her seat. "Now if you excuse me I'm going to clean the name of the Decepticon ranks."

"This is my fight too." Miko said.

"Sorry Miko, but Breakdown is gonna wake up. And he'll fire up my reboots if you're not there when he does." Slipstream said as she left the ship.

"Slipstream!" Miko yelled before the ship's door closed.

Miko climbed to the window to see outside. Slipstream transformed and flew towards a cave entrance where she stopped.

"You're in there, you traitor?!" She asked.

Lockdown appeared from the edge of the cliff above her. He jumped and attempted to smash her, but Slipstream quickly reversed. Lockdown fired his missile launchers, but Slipstream managed to dodge them as she advanced towards him, and when she was close enough she transformed and kicked him, sending him to the wall. She prepared to launch a missile, but Lockdown pushed her very fast, making her to drop the missile. Lockdown took the chance when she was lying on a rock and smashed her.

"Did you really think it was going to be that easy? Thanks to your commander, I am all too familiar with your Seeker tactics." Lockdown said as he tried to strike with his hook.

Fortunately Slipstream managed to dodge at time and pulled out her whips. Next she charged again and hit him in the face and kicked him in his feet, forcing him to fall back as he blocked her whips continually. Miko saw the entire rumble from Slipstream's ship.

"What's the matter, Lockdown? Not use to fight Decepticons who hasn't been induced to Tox-En?" Slipstream said as she continued attacking.

Lockdown managed to grab one of her whips. "Talk during battle is a sign of weakness." He said before he punched her.

Lockdown tried to hit her again with his sharp weapon, but Slipstream managed to block it.

"Only when you're too tight to do two things at once." She answered.

But Lockdown took the chance to do an uppercut on her, sending her from a distance. Then Lockdown changed to his car form, drove towards her and flung her in the air.

"Go for the missile!" Miko shouted.

Slipstream crawled to reach it, but Lockdown pushed it away before he tried to pierce her with his hook, as she relentlessly evaded. Next Lockdown pushed her before grabbing her by the head and slamming her into the ground two times.

"Slipstream!" Miko yelled.

Next Lockdown grabbed Slipstream and punched her three times before launch her into the air and punched her again. Slipstream was lying in the ground as Lockdown approached her.

"No." Miko said.

"Now you're mine." Lockdown said approaching her.

"Go kid. Get out of here." Slipstream said weakly.

Miko dropped a tear before she walked to the ship's control panel.

"Any last words?"

"Even if you destroy me, Lockdown, others will take care of making you pay for the crimes of your betrayal."

"They can try."

Miko walked to the control panel and was about to press the blue button.

"Your spark will now belong to Optimus Prime, but your head will remain as my trophy. And that will show everyone to not mess with me, unless they want to die!" Lockdown said as he transformed his head into cannon again.

But before he could kill her he saw the ship taking off, but then it stopped and it launched two missiles. Lockdown tried to destroy them, but his head cannon was useless, so he transformed and drove away, but the missiles ended hitting him. At the end, Miko pressed the red button, the one which activates the missile launcher. Slipstream recovered and saw her ship landing.

"Well done, kid."

Then she heard a lot of footsteps coming from the edge of the cliff, and saw a huge army of mercenaries looking at her, and they looked very mad.

"Slipstream, run!" Miko yelled.

As the flyer mercenaries commenced approaching them, Slipstream walked back to her ship with hurry.

"I thought I told you to hit autopilot, not the missile launcher." Slipstream said as she began to pilot the ship.

"Bad things happen to Cons when I leave their side." Miko answered.

As the mercenaries started firing the ship took flight and flew away. Unfortunately not only the flyers were after them: Lockdown's warship, cybertronian fighters and one cybertronian gunship began chasing them.

"Too many to pick off. I'm going to need something with more firepower." Slipstream said before she pressed the autopilot and went to a wall filled with missiles.

"But I thought you…" Miko started.

"We Seekers only carry a small quantity at a time."

She opened the hatch from the ceiling as their chasers continued firing at them. Slipstream prepared to launch a missile, but then she came with an idea. So she launched the entire container with all the missiles, and waited until they were close enough to the warship. And then she fired a shot which penetrated inside the ship's bridge and caused its destruction. The explosion also destroyed all the fighters, the gunship and forced the flyers to break formation.

"Welcome to the Seekers, girl. You did Breakdown proud." Slipstream congratulated as she sit on the pilot seat.

"Then why I'm not feeling any difference?" Miko asked sad.

Slipstream sighed. "I guess that's what revenge has. Is bad for both the one who seek it and the one who suffer it. At first you think it would serve for something, but in the end only makes it worse. Believe me; I've seen it many times."

Moments later in the Decepticon base, all the team heard a metal grinding coming from the entrance: it was Slipstream, who was coming with Miko, who looked so glum.

"Miko, you okay?" Airachnid asked.

"Don't worry. She's strong to be a child." Slipstream answered.

"She wasn't talking to you." Shockwave said mad.

"How is he?" Miko asked.

Stinger looked with sad eyes. "( **Not so good.** )"

"They will survive. Breakdown's condition is better, but both of them might never be fully functional again. Specially Starscream." Knock Out informed.

After hear that, Miko ran to her partner.

"Miko, I don't it's wise for you…" Knock Out started, only to be stopped by Soundwave.

Everyone looked Miko sad, until they turned to Slipstream, some of them angry.

"I… I am not sure I wanna see Starscream right now. Not like this." Slipstream said sad before she transformed and abandoned base.

Everyone turned to Miko again, who was sitting on top of Breakdown.

"I am never leaving you again."

Meanwhile the surviving mercenaries brought Lockdown's corpse back to the Ark, to Optimus's presence.

"The Decepticon did this?!" Optimus asked.

"No sir. It was…a human…girl." One of the mercenaries answered, which let Optimus intrigued. "Without our leader, we don't know what to do now. What path should we follow?"

Then Optimus came with something. "Perhaps you could find the proper revenge for your leader by targeting the responsible of his demise, under my leadership. I assure you I will get a proper use to all of your remaining resources."

The mercenaries understood that Optimus was offering them to join the Autobots. And after spending a little time discussing between them they answered: all bowed before him.

"We are now at your disposal, new lord and master!"


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter Forty Two- Memories**

An Autobot ship was flying through the space, and inside of it someone was waiting for two Autobot troopers, who were carrying a prisoner.

"They said it couldn't be done. The hunter called Airachnid is too quick, too stealthy to be captured. Well, here you are with a rare opportunity to make history."

"I'm surprised that Prime has granted the post of second in command to someone like you, Grimlock." Airachnid said.

"Many things have happened during these last eons, and Optimus knows how to reward his most useful followers. You see, we intercepted this encrypted Decepticon signal. And if it is encrypted it must be important. Decode it for me and I'll assure you that you will perish quickly without pain." Grimlock said.

But Airachnid didn't respond.

"Speak up! I can't hear you when you whimper."

"Get fragged." Airachnid answered.

Grimlock grumbled at first, but next he chuckled. "Perhaps you would be more inclined to cooperate when it is not your own well-being at stake."

Airachnid saw that the Autobot soldiers brought another prisoner next to her: a red and silver Vehicon with a blue visor.

"Airachnid, nice to meet you." He responded.

"Give me the encryption code or I'll add your comrade, the Vehicon to the multitude of fallen Decepticons below!" Grimlock threatened.

"Scrap him. I barely know this guy." She answered.

"Ouch. Glad I'm not the sensitive side." The Vehicon said.

Outside the ship was a metallic planet.

"Cybertron is little more than a graveyard now. Give me the code!" Grimlock demanded.

"I'm not afraid of you, Grimlock, despite the rumors about you. You're not Optimus Prime, or even Ratchet." Airachnid challenged.

"RAAARG!" Grimlock roared as he was about to strike her.

But all that was simply a memory from the past, because Airachnid was in the Decepticon base. And in front of her Breakdown was lying on the floor, with Miko next to him, but not happy.

"Three steps, Breakdown? That's all you can manage?" Miko said mad.

"I'm sorry Miko. My legs still hurt." Breakdown answered before he got up but he balanced.

"What did I tell you?" Miko asked.

"No excuses." Breakdown answered.

"Exactly. Try again, ten steps this time." Miko said before Breakdown tried to walk again.

Meanwhile Megatron, Shockwave and Starscream were next to the main computer as Soundwave was working on it.

"I hope decoding the Iacon database is going more smoothly than Breakdown and Starscream's recovery." Shockwave said.

"Slow, but steady, old friend." Megatron answered.

"At least he now can move by his own again. I can't even get up." Starscream said sitting on the floor.

"Take it easy, commander. Your exposure to the Tox-En was very huge compared to Breakdown's. It only will take you a little longer once Breakdown would be totally recovered." Knock Out said checking his systems while he looked to the screen.

"Ugh, human technology. But Soundwave's expertise in the field alongside what lord Megatron remembered from Optimus past life as an archivist should provide any edge we need to beat the Autobots at this game." Starscream said.

"I fear that Optimus knowledge and their access to cybertronian technology might provide them with equal advantage." Megatron added.

Then everyone heard a crash sound, it was Breakdown lying on the floor again.

"Not good enough! You have to come back stronger than before!" Miko scold.

"That's enough for today. It's time for a break, Breakdown." Knock Out said helping him.

"A break? You think the Bots are gonna give Breakdown a break in the middle of a fire-fight?!" Miko asked.

"Since when have she become so responsible?" Starscream asked in disbelief.

"We know that you only want to help him, but if you push a patient too far, too fast, you risk exasperating their injuries." Shockwave explained.

"But…"

"Breakdown needs to rest." Shockwave cut off before he and Knock Out took Breakdown to the resting seats.

Miko groaned in annoyance, just in the moment when Stinger drove inside the base and transformed in front of her.

"Out of the way!" Miko said mad passing through his feet.

Airachnid looked Miko worried, knowing what she was feeling at the moment. Moments later, Miko was sitting near the edge of the peak of the base's ceiling, with tearful eyes.

"Miko?" Airachnid said coming.

"Oh. Em? Hey Airachnid, I was just…" Miko said clearing her eyes.

"Aren't you a little close to the edge?" Airachnid asked.

"Heights don't scare me." Miko answered.

"Breakdown is coming along just fine. Thanks mostly to your efforts, but he needs a friend right now, not a drill sergeant."

"No offense, but I came up here for some privacy." Miko said turning her head.

"I understand what you're going through. If you ever want someone to talk to…"

"I'm fine, okay? I'm not the one Lockdown tried to scrap." Miko cut off.

"Miko, it's rough when someone you care about gets hurt. But closing yourself off from feeling won't help anyone."

"Well, you would know, wouldn't you? After all you have been a lonely one."

"Not all my life. Actually, I would." Airachnid answered looking back.

Then Miko turned her head to look what Airachnid was looking: a pile of rocks that looked like a grave.

"Airachnid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." Miko apologized.

"It's okay. He's been out of my mind lately. After my first encounter with Arcee and what happened to her partner, Tailgate, I decided to not have a partner to not experience the same thing that she felt, to continue my way alone as always. So I continued pushing everyone away, until Steve came along." Airachnid told.

"Steve? There was a Con named like that?" Miko asked interested.

"Yes, he put it himself."

"What was he like?" Miko asked.

"He was different from all the other Vehicons: he had a curious personality, totally independent. And quite the conversationalist." Airachnid began to tell.

Inside her story, Airachnid was inside the prison cell when suddenly the Autobots threw inside Steve.

"Soldier? Are you…?" Airachnid began.

"I…I can't…I can't believe you actually cared." Steve said with a chuckle.

Airachnid stepped away a little annoyed. "The only thing I care about is whether you talked just now."

Steve got up and loosened his servos. "You are always this nice to your comrades?" He answered as he began to check the room.

"You didn't answer my question." Airachnid remembered.

"I got bored with Grimlock's little workout, so I idled my engines and fake shut down. Grim bought it." Steve explained.

"How did you wind up here?"

"Intercepted some chatter about an Autobot operation on the old home planet. So I followed the trail and find Grimlock shipping massive amounts of energon here to Cybertron. What's your story?" Steve asked.

"Same."

"You're quite the conversationalist."

"Where is your squadron?" Airachnid asked.

"I do not identify myself with the way in which other Vehicons operate, so I prefer to go by my own. By the way, name's Steve."

"You have a name?" Airachnid asked surprised.

"A name gives you identity." He answered.

Meanwhile in the bridge, Grimlock was growing tired of the Decepticons uncooperative behavior.

"I've tried every interrogation technique that I know and nothing is working! I would just eliminate them, but the code they carry is too valuable! If only I could break them open and just take it!" Grimlock said mad.

Then Blaster pointed to Cybertron.

"You're suggesting that maybe he could make them speak?" Grimlock deduced, while Blaster nodded. "Alright, I owe him a lot. And since I must deliver the energon to him anyway."

Moments later, the Autobots were on the surface carrying a lot of energon and the two Decepticon prisoners through the streets.

"So this is what's left of Iacon, huh? Love what we have done with the place. The ruins are especially picturesque." Steve said.

"Shut up!" Grimlock roared as one of the soldiers hit Steve from behind.

While the Autobots carried the energon to its destination, Grimlock took the Decepticons to a laboratory.

"Here we are." Grimlock said.

"Eei, that's not a good sign." Steve said looking a table with a lot of operating tools.

"Since I could not compel you to surrender the encryption code, I am forced to introduce you to someone whose methods are a little more…persuasive." Grimlock said before they heard footsteps coming from behind them.

Walking through the hallway was a big, not as big as Grimlock; black and white Autobot with a cannon on his right shoulder.

"We maybe in a little more trouble than I thought." Steve whispered to Airachnid.

"Decepticons, say hello to the one who improved me during the last days on Cybertron. The mastermind of the Autobots, Perceptor." Grimlock introduced.

Moments later the two Decepticons were hooked to two operating tables while Perceptor was operating the tools.

"Delivering a mountain of energon, intercepting an encrypted Decepticon communique, and capturing two key prisoners is impressed I admit, but Optimus Prime expects nothing less from his new second in command…" Grimlock stopped when he saw that Perceptor looked annoyed. "I should let you work, right. No doubt you are trying to concentrate. Carry on."

Perceptor picked up a plug and inserted it at the back of his own head. With the Autobots distracted, Airachnid tried to break free one of her spider legs. Steve saw what she was planning and decided to follow her lead.

"Um, Perceptor, are you certain you can extract the decryption code without first nullifying our subjects' neuro-nets?" Grimlock asked.

"Fear nothing, dear Grimlock. Of course I was one of those who invented the cortical psychic patch. So I am familiar with its idiosyncrasies." Perceptor said as he turned to the Decepticons.

"Sure." Grimlock added.

Perceptor walked towards Airachnid with the other end of the cord in hand.

"Keep that thing away from me, you blasted Bot!" She yelled.

"Leave her alone! Use it on me!" Steve demanded.

"Do not worry. If her mind does not survive the procedure, you'll be next." Perceptor said before he held Airachnid's head and plugged the cord at the back of her head, causing her a lot of pain.

Steve struggled trying to break free, but the monitor already showed what Perceptor was looking inside Airachnid's mind.

"Aja, here's the code. Now let's see what this message contains." Grimlock saw.

Perceptor pulled out the cord off Airachnid, causing her to moan in pain, and lying motionless.

"Airachnid, Airachnid! I'll scrap you both!" Steve threatened.

"Shut up! I'm trying to listen!" Grimlock said.

The code began to relay a message. "This is Megatron, to all surviving Decepticons who hear this message: I ask you to join me on a remote corner of the universe, on a small planet rich with energon. I have reason to believe that this world will soon become a new target of Autobot conquest. Our team is small, but strong. Join me at these coordinates, so that way we might plan our resistance. Safe journeys."

As the message was going, Steve saw that Airachnid was faking her death. She winked an eye to him and continued to break free her extra legs.

"Ah, brilliant! Not only we know where to find their precious leader, but he's begging for help. Now is the time to strike!" Grimlock proclaimed.

"Now that we have what we wanted, you are no longer of use." Perceptor said as he aimed his cannon at Steve.

"Hey Grim, I'm curious. Did not you like to crush so many of us? More than any other Autobot?" Steve asked.

"Perceptor! You've already disposed of one of my prisoners, and you know what I like to do with my captures. The Vehicon is mine." Grimlock said.

"Oh, I forgot the way you have fun with your captives. So enjoy it." Perceptor said before he went out with his troopers.

"What do you think, Vehicon? Plenty to choose from here. Shall we try with precise dissection or blunt force?" Grimlock asked while he looked the tools.

In that moment Airachnid broke free.

"Your choice, Grim. Whatever you pick, I'm just gonna end using it on you." Steve answered.

"Very well. Then I prefer to do it my way!" Grimlock shouted as he prepared his sword.

But suddenly Airachnid shot webs to his optics, leaving him blind. Next she kicked him to the operating table. The energy shackles activated automatically and kept him pinned, making him to lose his sword.

"What?! No!" Grmlock roared.

Airachnid walked next to Steve and set him free.

"Thanks for the save." He thanked.

"Your turn, Grimlock. What's with all the energon?" Airachnid asked.

"I will never tell anything to you, Cons!" Grimlock said.

"Talk or you're science experiment. I'm not kidding!" Airachnid said before she went to the table with the tools.

"You should probably tell her something. I'm not sure how long I can hold her back. And by the way, my name's Steve."

"I'm not an expert with this thing, but I hear one slip can fry a neuro-net." Airachnid threatened with the cortical psychic patch cord.

"Perceptor! He's the one who needs the energon. He's building a space bridge beneath Iacon." Grimlock answered.

"Impossible. Space bridge technology has been lost for megacycles since that incident in that city of the sea of rust." Airachnid objected.

"But he managed! Perceptor decided to return to Cybertron precisely so he can scavenge to recover parts and reverse-engineer space bridge mechanics!" Grimlock explained.

"And you just delivered all the energon he needs to power it up." Steve added.

"He also turned me in the powerful destroyer than I'm now, so I will do anything for him." Grimlock said, just before Airachnid kicked him hard on the face, leaving him unconscious.

"You're going somewhere?" Steve asked.

"To take down a space bridge." Airachnid answered.

"Without me?"

"This will require stealth. Not chatter."

"Oh, you mean the chatter that distracted Grimlock long enough for you to free yourself?" Steve reminded.

"Just try not to slow me down." Airachnid said.

The two Decepticons walked through a bunk of tunnels.

"You know where you're going?" Steve asked.

"I used these tunnels during the war. They're part of the old Cybertron." Airachnid answered.

"The sooner we blow the bridge, the sooner we join up with lord Megatron." Steve suggested.

"Give him my regards." Airachnid said.

"Did you not hear our leader's message? He needs us."

"Teamwork isn't my thing. After we finish this, you and I go our separate ways."

"Whatever you said, partner." Steve said.

That made Airachnid to stop in her tracks and turned to Steve. "Look, let's get one thing straight; you are not my partner."

"Airachnid, I know it's rough. I really do."

"I don't know what you are talking about." She said walking away from him.

"Tailgate. I saw that report on the section of Autobot casualties list. But I research exactly what happened there." Steve said.

That made Airachnid to remember what happened the first time she met Arcee, who became her death rival.

"You're trying to go alone to not put anyone in danger by your fault, that's why you're so distance from the others, no? But closing yourself from feeling won't help anyone. At the end is good to have someone at your side." Steve said.

"Sounds familiar." Miko called in.

"Good advice is good advice." Airachnid replied.

"So, I gotta know. What happened next?" Miko demanded.

Back to the story, two Autobot soldiers were guarding the space bridge station. Both Decepticons took them down and dragged them away. Next the duo ran for cover before seeing the space bridge.

"Perceptor's latest work of art." Airachnid observed.

"Already fueled and ready for rip. Airachnid, look familiar?" Steve said pointing the space bridge control panel.

"The coordinates Megatron provided. They're being used to target the space bridge." Airachnid recognized.

"Which means the Bots will ambush Megatron and his team, before any Decepticon reinforcement can get there." Steve continued.

"If the Bots scorch Megatron, the war is as good as over." Airachnid deduced.

"We can fix that." Steve said pulling out his weapon, but Airachnid lowered it.

"No. We don't have the ordinance to blow the bridge. I'll have to sabotage the control systems."

"And what about access? You're just gonna walk up and ask for permission?" Steve asked.

"No. You are." Airachnid suggested.

Two Autobot soldiers were preparing the bridge when…

"Uh, excuse me?" Steve said entering the station walking towards them. "I got separated from the tour group. Does anyone know where I can find the Autobot base?"

The Autobots responded by activating their weapons and approaching him.

"Whoa! Easy brothers. Didn't Grimlock tell you? I'm on your side now." Steve said, leaving the Autobots confused. "That coward, Megatron turn trail and ran. Left the rest of us Decepticons to fend for ourselves. So much for camaraderie, huh?"

As Steve continued his distraction, Airachnid began to sabotage the controls.

"Figured I'd rather be on the winning team. So I took Prime up with his offer. Imagine the look on Megatron's face when it starts raining Autobots. Me with them." Steve continued, but the Autobots were still confused. "Really. I know all about Grimlock's plan. We can all get along now."

Suddenly the Autobots lowered their weapons, which Steve found suspicious.

"There's someone behind me, isn't there?" Steve asked before he turned to see Perceptor behind them.

"I can't believe that someone managed to survive Grimlock." Perceptor said.

Then the space bridge began to give off an eerie screech and power build-up.

"Uh, it is supposed to sound like that?" Steve asked.

Perceptor whacked Steve out of the way and charged against Airachnid.

"Interloper!" He said grabbing her by the head and throwing her to a ledge, where she managed to cling on for her life. "You have overridden the energon containment protocols, haven't you? Clever, but not irreversible."

The Autobot soldiers tried to grab Steve, but he managed to set free. He pushed away one before he smashed the other to the ground before punched his face. He grabbed other and used it as shield against other one, after that he eliminated the last one with a good punching combo.

"That's why I'm not an ordinary Vehicon." Steve said before he fired his weapon against Perceptor.

Steve's shots hit the control console and Perceptor, but the Autobot received no damage. So Steve charged against him, jumped in the air and kicked him on the face. Perceptor tried to smash him, but he evaded him and tripped him. Next he aimed his weapon at the Autobot face, but Perceptor threw a lucky uppercut, sending him flying. While Steve was recovering the other Autobots aimed their weapons at him, but a few shots took them down: it was Airachnid. More Autobot soldiers came from behind, so she engaged them in close combat with her spider legs. When she finished with all of them, she saw Perceptor approaching Steve, who was still on the floor.

"There is more than one way to nullify a neuro-net." Perceptor said charging his cannon.

"Not this time." Airachnid said firing at the ceiling, causing a cave-in that buried the Autobot scientist.

Steve managed to get out of the way.

"Steve?" She asked helping him got up.

"I knew you cared." He answered.

In that moment Grimlock came with more soldiers.

"You will pay for what you have done to Perceptor. Destroy them!" Grimlock ordered.

The Autobots shots forced them to find some cover.

"Decepticons, whatever you did to the space bridge, undo it now!" Grimlock demanded seeing the space bridge.

"Then really you should stop shooting at us if you want our help. Seeing how our exit is blocked and we have an open space bridge portal currently set for Megatron's location. You're with me?" Steve asked as he offered his hand to Airachnid.

It took her a while to decide until she took him by the hand. Meanwhile Grimlock started to fall back seeing the space bridge acting more strangely.

"The space bridge! It's going to blow!" Grimlock said running to the exit with his troopers.

Both Decepticons ran into the portal to their destination, but then shots came from behind them. It was Perceptor, who fired them with his shoulder cannon.

"Give him everything you got!" Steve said as he and Airachnid fired at him.

But Perceptor showed no pain from their shots. A shot managed to knock them both, but Airachnid recovered quickly. She stood in front of him, waiting until he fired again. But she evaded it in the last moment and fired an acid shot to his head and chest, causing him a lot of pain.

"Woo! Bulls-eye!" Steve said before they ran again.

Even without seeing Perceptor continued firing, but they made it to the other side of the portal and landed on Earth before the vortex exploded. Now both Decepticons were lying on the ground.

"Think Perceptor survive?" Airachnid asked.

"Hope so. I want a rematch." Steve answered as he tried to get up.

"Let's find Megatron, partner." Airachnid said as she held out her hand.

Steve didn't hesitate to reach out for hand. They saw they were around a desert environment.

"Ha, ha, ha. Rich with energon, huh? Hope the whole rock doesn't look like this. Reminds me the time when I was lost in the sea of rust, back on Cybertron. Except I was separated from my unit with absolutely no one to talk to." Steve said.

"Talk at?" Airachnid asked.

"Admit it, you love the company." Steve assured.

That was the end of the story.

"Funny. At first I didn't think I'd ever get used to Steve's constant chatter and peculiar personality, not usually for a Vehicon. Now, there's nothing louder to me than the silence." Airachnid finished.

Miko understood what Airachnid passed through, so she held her hand, making her so saw her and smile.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter Forty Three- New Recruits**

Inside the Decepticon base, Raf and Jack had discovered a picture of Stinger on the web.

"Removing Stinger and replacing him with…" Raf said as he erased Stinger's image and put a monkey wearing a tuxedo dancing.

"The tap-dancing monkey strikes again." Jack said as he and Raf high-fived each other.

"( **This is very funny.** )" Stinger said.

"For your knowledge, Stinger's sightings on the world wide web are no laughing matter!" Starscream scold from the floor.

Starscream and Breakdown were still recovering, but Breakdown seemed to take it better since he was making some leg exercises.

"Seven, eight, nine." Miko counted.

"Why can't I just drive from now on?" Breakdown asked.

"Because your legs will atrophy if you chose not to use them. Starscream will have to do these exercises too once he'll be able to stand up." Knock Out explained.

"Ugh." Breakdown groaned, as well as Starscream.

"One, two, three." Miko started to count again.

"Wait. What's that?" Jack said looking at the screen.

The next image showed some kind of mystery meteor, so Raf zoomed in on the image.

"A cybertronian escape pod?" Raf suggested.

"Here, on Earth's atmosphere?" Starscream asked.

Raf passed the image to the Decepticon main screen.

"Confirmed, it is a cybertronian escape pod." Soundwave recognized.

"Autobot or Decepticon?" Airachnid asked.

"Impossible to tell. Given the image resolution." Shockwave explained.

"In any event this merits investigation." Megatron declared.

"Could be a trap and we're down two Cons." Knock Out said.

"Should we reach out to Slipstream?" Airachnid suggested.

"I can hear you!" Breakdown shouted.

Starscream only smiled. "I would not mind, especially if she knows that I'm better."

"I don't care if Breakdown and Starscream aren't combat ready. After that revenge stunt she pulled with Miko, Slipstream can stay rouge." Shockwave objected.

"Hey, now I hear you!" Starscream yelled.

"A Decepticon may be in distress. Knock Out, bring your medical kit. Soundwave, bridge us there." Megatron ordered.

All the Decepticons travelled in vehicle mode and transformed once they arrived to the landing place. There they spotted the escape pod, followed by a trail of dropped energon. Airachnid wiped the mud off and showed the symbol of which faction it belonged to.

"It is of Autobot origin." Soundwave said.

"And the Bot inside managed to get out." Knock Out added.

Then shots started to came from behind them: it was a huge battalion of Autobot soldiers and Insectobots. They forced the Decepticons to retrieve to a bunk of rocks to find some cover.

"All those Bots came out of one pod?" Airachnid asked.

"Humans refer to the phenomenon as a clown car!" Shockwave explained as he fired.

One Insectobot flew, landed and transformed before he tried to smash Megatron, but he dodged it before using his sword and finish it with his fusion cannon and other one. An Autobot leaper charged against Shockwave and smashed him to a rock, but before he could strike with his claws Airachnid managed to cut them with her acid. The leaper grabbed her with his hands, but she managed to break free before she, Stinger and Knock Out finished him with their blasters. As the group continued the fight some blue shots came from behind them. Then they spotted an orange with platinum color touches female robot which seemed like Arcee, accompanied by a grey and green robot with claws on his back, a blue visor and a body which looked like he could transform into some kind of bug. They were firing coming towards them.

"Incoming!" Airachnid warned as she and Stinger aimed their weapons.

"Down in front!" The new female robot said.

The female robot jumped over them and cut two Autobots with two long swords which came from her hand dolls. Meanwhile the other bug put himself in front of all the Decepticons and started to take down all the Insectobots in close combat with both hands and claws, and surprisingly he was winning.

"Friendlies?" Soundwave asked.

When an Insectobot Bruiser landed in front of them, the new robot jumped over a rock and started firing a storm of shots which came from all his claws. Unfortunately one of the shots hit the leaking energon, making blue flames that grew and advanced all the way to the pod.

"This is going to blow!" Knock Out warned.

"Fall back!" Megatron instructed.

The Decepticons managed to get cover behind the rocks before a huge explosion consumed the entire area. Once the smoke disappeared the area was burning with blue fire, but the Autobots were gone.

"WOO! Too hot for you, Bots?!" The female robot yelled in victory as the green robot roared like the Insectobots and hit his chest with his fists like a gorilla.

"A friend of yours?" Knock Out asked.

"( **Of course not.** )" Stinger answered.

"Never seen them before." Airachnid followed.

"Negative." Soundwave said.

"Torching that energon leak. Pretty good plan, right?" The female robot said.

"Except that wasn't your plan, two-wheeler. It was a random shot that almost fried us to a crisp." Airachnid corrected.

"Worked out, didn't it?" The green robot said.

"Thank you, fellow Decepticons. Your… valor is to be commended." Megatron thanked.

"I don't believe it! You're lord Megatron! He's lord Megatron!" The green robot said excited.

The whole team agreed in annoyance.

"We know." Airachnid said.

"Yes, yes." Knock Out followed.

"( **We all know.** )" Stinger added.

"Affirmative." Soundwave said.

"By the Allspark, I cannot believe you made it here. It's good to see you again, old friend." Shockwave said walking toward the green robot.

"Shockwave! Good to see you again too!" The green robot answered as he gave him a big hug.

"Okay Kickback, enough. You're going to crush me." Shockwave said in pain before Kickback freed him.

"Wait! You know this robot?" Knock Out asked.

"Indeed. Megatron, this is Kickback, one of my Insecticon assistants. I found him and his siblings inside the Crystal City before they joined to our cause." Shockwave explained.

"( **Hold on a second. That means now we have an Insecticon with us?! That's gonna be a great relief against those Insectobots.** )" Stinger said happy.

"It's a pleasure to be at your presence, lord Megatron." Kickback said bowing in front of him.

"And you soldier, what is your name?" Megatron asked to the female robot.

"Flamewar, my liege!" She saluted him.

"Welcome to Earth, Flamewar and Kickback." Megatron said as he held his out to Flamewar and Kickback.

"It's an honor to be here, sir. Especially with you!" Kickback said shaking his hand with Megatron's.

"Now what? It's not like we can just bring them back to base." Knock Out said.

"Wouldn't be the first time an ally turned out to be a plant." Airachnid said, remembering the situation with Stardust.

"For your knowledge, it's been demonstrated that shifter technology can't be compatible with Insecticon biology, so it is impossible that someone could successfully supplant Kickback." Shockwave said.

"Okay, but what about her?" Knock Out asked.

"Hey! It isn't enough proof that we just saved you from an entire Autobot battalion?! We're Decepticons of true loyalty, and we came here looking for offer our services." Flamewar said.

"Kickback, what happened after your incursion on Iacon on the final days of Cybertron?" Shockwave asked.

"We managed to sneak inside the Autobot capitol, but we got caught by surprise by a certain brute Autobot and his team. I don't know what happened there, but it seems that those Autobots were upgraded to a brutal level that they managed to destroy more than a half of our strike force. We suffered huge losses, I don't know what happened to Hardshell, but the only thing for sure is that Sharpshot died in that day." Kickback said with sad tone.

"Now he's one with the Allspark." Megatron reassured.

"What are those letters of your back?" Soundwave discovered.

"These?" Kickback said looking his back claws. "There are only a few souvenirs that I take from a little incursion on a lost city in the sea of rust. It seems that they're some kind of memories of a certain Decepticon leader."

"Who?" Shockwave asked."

"I don't know. The message said it belonged to someone called the Warrior of Darkness." Kickback told.

"You found the memories of The Fallen?!" Megatron asked surprised.

"I thought this information could be really important for you, so I painted it on myself so no Autobot could get this from me, not by ordinary ways."

Megatron though for a moment before reaching to a decision. "Soundwave, we're going back."

"Rafael, activate the ground bridge." Soundwave instructed through the com-link.

"That's it? That's all you need to hear before inviting them to the party?" Airachnid asked in disbelief.

"If my former mentor left this information in a place that only Kickback was able to found, it is because he can be considered a trusted ally. As well as Flamewar." Megatron proclaimed.

Back to the base, Miko was already excited to see new Decepticons in the team.

"We haven't had somebody new here since Astraea, especially an Insecticon. What's your story, guys? Where did you come from? How did you get here? How many blasters you are packing?" Miko asked without time to answer.

"So these are the lifeforms we're supposed to protect? Are they all like this?" Flamewar asked.

"Fortunately not. But I too share Miko's fascination with how you two came to arrive on Earth." Knock Out said.

"In an Autobot escape pod." Airachnid added.

"Still got trust issues, huh? Tough crowd. Anyway, my story is not so long as Kickback's, so I'll leave him to begin with his own." Flamewar said.

"By the way, what's the difference between Insectobots and Insecticons?" Raf asked.

"Interesting question, Rafael. Insectobots and Insecticons are similar and different at the same time, it's like both are the same species. The only few differences between both species is that Insectobots are more aggressive and hostiles, use their instinct more and only respond to something or someone stronger than their hive, like Prime. On the contrary, Insecticons are more understanding with other species and don't compete that much for territory and resources, even they can create symbiotic relationships. I know it because I have studied them." Shockwave explained.

"And that's the reason why I and my brothers joined you when you met us. And about my story is not as wonderful as anyone could think." Kickback began to tell.

"After our defeat on Iacon, I ran away until I arrived to the ancient city we found inside the sea of rust. While I was exploring the insides, looking for safe behavior, I found The Fallen's memories. Knowing the importance of that message, I decided to go outside in order to find any remain of our forces and send it to a secure place. But in the moment I returned back to the surface everything went black. The Bots took me prisoner and dumped me onto a prison ship. But when I went back online I saw someone getting me out of my stasis cell."

"And is there when I came with my story. I was with other Decepticons following the general exodus order aboard the Decepticon warship the Leviathan. But an Autobot battalion ambushed us, so I managed to mislead the boarding group and escape in one of their ships. During the travel I made contact with the same Autobot prison ship where Kickback was captive. I sneak aboard looking for captured allies and found him as the only one locked inside a stasis cell. Next we've managed to give a guard the slip and hopped into an escape pod." Flamewar continued. "Apparently it was a long distance pod. Cause it knocked us into stasis."

"Next thing we knew, we're hitting solid ground. Hard, and you know the rest." Kickback ended.

"The Autobot warship must have picked up the pod's beacon and guided it to Earth." Soundwave analyzed.

"Which would explain their welcoming committee." Airachnid said.

Flamewar laughed. "Bet those Bots were disappointed not to find one of their own inside."

"Kickback, do you know of The Fallen's fate? Did he leave his actual location in his memories?" Megatron asked.

"I wish I knew, but that was the only thing I found about him." Kickback replied, while Megatron looked worried and troubled. "That's it. Our stories, not exactly the glory I envisioned for ourselves. Until now: serving here with lord Megatron, I knew I was going to achieve great things! I mean now that you have help, how hard could it be to end this war?"

Then a pair of scrapping noise was heard from a corridor. Everyone saw Breakdown limping inside and helping Starscream to reach.

"Take a good look, Insecticon." Starscream said.

"This is how hard." Breakdown added.

"Kickback, Flamewar, I would suggest you take some time to become acclimated to your new surroundings. A tour of the base would be an excellent start." Megatron informed.

"Sure thing!" Miko immediately said, but she changed her mind when she saw Breakdown's face. "I mean Jack here offers a very informative tour."

The two new Decepticons looked to Jack, who simply smiled to them a little nervous.

"I never thought that humans could be some interesting in anatomy, especially males." Flamewar said surprised by Jack appearance.

At the same time, someone was watching the same information source inside the Harbinger.

"This is what the humans call the information superhighway? A trillion GB's of data none of it useful." Grimlock groaned as he continued passing images, until he found the dancing monkey. "Though some, oddly engrossing." He said before he laughed, but the next image caught his attention. "What is this?" He laughed maniacally after seeing it closely. "Ignorant lifeforms have no idea what they've uncovered: red energon. If I can possess its power not only will I be stronger, but also faster. Significantly faster."

Jack was guiding the two new Decepticon through the base. Now they were in a corridor with a lot of closed big doors.

"Phase shifter, spark extractor, immobilizer. These are where we keep the cybertronian relics we found buried on Earth. And talk about a small universe because most of them came from…" Jack told.

"The Iacon Hall of Records." Kickback interrupted. "I heard about these."

Then Flamewar looked inside where Sandstorm was locked. "Whoa! Is that a Star Seeker?"

"Indeed. But fortunately they have been out of the game lately." Jack said.

Meanwhile in the main hall, Breakdown and Starscream were a little upset about the new recruits.

"If you wanted to replace me you should have called Astraea! I could have lived with that." Breakdown said with his arms crossed.

"With all due respect, lord Megatron, where are you going to find another good option as second in command? Surely Slipstream could try it." Starscream objected.

"No one is replacing you, guys. For one thing, the rookies are too green." Knock Out reassured.

"Well, only Kickback is green as they get." Miko said.

"What Knock Out means is Kickback and Flamewar still have a great deal to learn." Shockwave explained.

"And once you got them trained, then what? They're in, we're a door stump!" Breakdown shouted.

"Breakdown, Starscream, your places with us are not in jeopardy, but there is no dispute that we have long required additional firepower. It is essential that our team learns to work with our new recruits, not against them." Megatron declared.

"Better hopes the bug's blasters are as big as his mouth and that two-wheeler as fast as her enthusiasm." Starscream finished.

"How hard can it be?" Breakdown asked.

"You know, it has been a while since the last time I was in presence of an Insecticon." Airachnid suddenly said.

"And why?" Miko asked.

"Because no one knows this, but I have the special quality to manage to control the Insecticons telepathically, better than Sandstorm did, you could say we are like a same mind. But it's curious that it doesn't work with Kickback." Airachnid pointed.

"That's because Kickback and his siblings are more evolved and intelligent than normal Insecticons, that's why they can't be manipulated that way." Shockwave explained.

"Hey everyone, check this out!" Raf called as he passed another image.

"Oh, don't tell me it's another Stinger sighting." Starscream began until he saw the image and remained without words. "Oh my."

"Red energon." Shockwave recognized.

"Here? On Earth?" Starscream asked in disbelief.

"What's red energon?" Raf asked.

"An extremely rare and volatile form of energon. Refined into fuel that provides the power of hyper-speed." Starscream explained.

"We must have agent Silas clear the dig site of all human presence, in the event we are not the only ones who have discovered its location." Megatron said.

"Now you're talking! Let's scramble some Bots circuits!" Kickback said when he, Jack and Flamewar returned from the tour.

"Given your limited field experience, I believe further training is required before you two are battle ready." Megatron said.

"Lord Megatron, with all due respect…" Flamewar started.

"Furthermore, we Decepticons live on this planet as robots in disguise. You'll need to obtain an Earth-based vehicle mode." Megatron continued.

"In order to maintain a low profile. If that's possible for you." Knock Out finished.

"If you're talking wheels, bring' them on!" Flamewar supported.

"I'm not sure, my liege. I don't think I could change my alt form giving my biology, especially one which I like." Kickback said a little nervous.

"You'll do the best you can. Jack will accompany you in order to give you a hand." Megatron said looking at Jack, who nodded.

At the excavation site a ground bridge appeared and Grimlock came through with his sword in hand.

"The red energon is mine, humans! For you are powerless in the face of the unstoppable King… What?" Grimlock asked seeing the place abandoned. "Where is it?!"

Meanwhile, Jack, Flamewar and Kickback were on a hillside looking all the vehicles that drove through the highway.

"Nope." Kickback said as a white car passed.

"Hey Flamewar, do you like that?" Jack said looking a quad bike.

"Too many wheels for my taste, and too much big." She answered.

"How about that one?" Jack pointed an old truck.

"Nah, its more for an Autobot veteran speed, don't you think?" Kickback said.

"Cement truck?" Jack spotted.

"Yeah, if we were Constructicons." Flamewar said.

"Seriously, this is the best your planet has to offer?" Kickback asked.

"No, but this is Jasper." Jack answered with a face that meant boredom.

"I feel for ya." Kickback said. "Well, sorry for you guys, but I don't think I'm going to find something that could suit me as well as my actual alt form." Kickback said giving up.

"By the way, what's your alt mode?" Jack asked interested. "It's some kind of giant cybertronian bug?"

"Yes, this one." Kickback said before he transformed, showing that his alt form was a flying cybertronian grasshopper.

"Whoa. Seriously Kickback, Miko will flip out when she see you like this." Jack said impressed.

"And talking about surprises, I think I just found my perfect covering mask for this world." Flamewar said as she saw passing a motorcycle similar to Arcee's vehicle mode.

She scanned the motorcycle and once it was complete she changed to her new vehicle form.

"I think it's time to return to base. Wanna ride?" Kickback offered.

"On a Decepticon giant bug? Bring it!" Jack said as he mounted on Kickback's back.

The Insecticon began to fly back to the base while Flamewar followed them by land. Meanwhile, another ground bridge appeared on a dock with a lot of containers and Megatron, Stinger, Knock Out and Airachnid came out. Next they located the red energon inside a crate hanging high in the dock crane.

"Silas couldn't have the crane operator lower the thing?" Knock Out asked.

"The humans must have been preparing to transfer the meteor onto a cargo ship when they received his evacuation order." Megatron deduced.

"Run along home, Decepticons." Grimlock proclaimed as he appeared in front of them. "That red energon has my name written all over it." He said before he placed the Apex Armor on his chest and it covered all his body. "And I am more than willing to fight for it."

"Secure the red energon and have Soundwave bridge it back to base." Megatron ordered.

Knock Out, Airachnid and Stinger ran to the crane while Megatron stood to face the Dinobot. Grimlock charged while Megatron fired with his fusion cannon, without effect. Grimlock tried to punch, but Megatron dodged it and punched him back two times, until Grimlock grabbed his arm and threw him against the containers.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten our last encounter, Megatron?" Grimlock mocked.

Stinger saw that Megatron was having trouble.

"Keep moving, Stinger." Airachnid encouraged.

But they didn't know that Grimlock already spotted them.

"Megatron, is something wrong?" Shockwave asked through the com-link.

"Grimlock has come for the red energon, and I fear he will not be deterred at his quest." Megatron reported, just in the moment when Jack returned with Kickback and Flamewar.

"Grimlock? I've heard stories about that giant brutal furious walking destroyer back on Cybertron." Flamewar said.

But no one noticed that when Kickback heard the name Grimlock he turned mad and crushed his fist with fury.

"Send me in, Shockwave!" He demanded.

"Ha, you against a Dinobot?! In your best dreams." Starscream laughed.

"When lord Megatron requires backup, he will ask for it." Soundwave answered.

"Ah, come on! I got my v-mode and everything! I'm supped up and ready to rise!" Flamewar objected.

"Ah dat dat dat! What part of further training did you not understand?!" Starscream yelled before he, Soundwave and Shockwave returned to the screen.

But Kickback knew that they needed special support against that Dinobot. At the same time, the three Decepticons were almost at the top of the crane, but Grimlock was following them.

"The higher you climb, the harder you fall!" Grimlock taunted.

While Airachnid continued towards the energon, Stinger and Knock Out tried to slow down their opponent with their blaster fire, but that only made Grimlock laugh.

"Decepticons, such slow learners."

Meanwhile, at base…

"Lord Megatron, what's your status?" Starscream asked through the com-link.

"Commander, they need us. We can do this." Breakdown insisted.

"Airachnid? Knock Out? Stinger?" Shockwave asked.

"Did you hear what I said?!" Breakdown said.

"We heard and we're ignoring you." Shockwave answered.

"I wish I could help as much as you want, Breakdown. But there is not much we can help." Starscream realized.

"This maybe your opportunity after all, Kickback…" Shockwave started until they saw that Kickback was gone.

"Where is Kickback?" Flamewar asked.

The Insecticon was inside the corridor where the relics were. He opened the one which contained the phase shifter.

"That's the one." He said.

"Kickback! What in the name of the Allspark do you think you are doing?" Shockwave asked.

"I have to do it." Kickback answered.

Meanwhile, Airachnid was getting close to the cable of the holding crate as Stinger and Knock Out continued firing at Grimlock, until he pushed them to a side, leaving them trapped in middle of the crane. Airachnid was so close when a shadow grew over her.

"Time to unload some more dead weight." Grimlock said as he was going to grab her.

Then Airachnid looked to her left and saw Megatron coming in vehicle mode, next he transformed and punched him so hard that made him to go off balance. He managed to grab the crate of red energon and a stockpile before he slipped.

"No! AARG!" Grimlock screamed when he fell.

With their attacker out, Megatron grabbed the cable and started to pull of it, but suddenly the crane started to shake: they looked down to see Grimlock ripping the base of the crane apart.

"Watch your step, Decepticons." Grimlock said laughing maniacally.

That made the Decepticons to begin to lose their balance. But when Grimlock almost managed to take out the crane's base, a ground bridge vortex appeared next to him. The only thing that Grimlock spotted next was a robotic insect which flew towards him before it landed.

"Apparently no one defined low profile for him." Airachnid said observing Kickback's alt mode.

Next Kickback transformed in front of Grimlock.

"So the Decepticons have recruited a bug, at last." Grimlock said.

"So here you are, Grimlock." Kickback said mad.

"Long time since the last time I fought against one of your kind." Grimlock added.

"So this will be like a rematch. But I must admit I remembered you more robust." Kickback said looking Grimlock's new appearance, which made him growled angrily.

"This will not end well." Knock Out said.

"Kickback, stand down! You're no match for Grimlock's Apex Armor!" Megatron warned.

"Kickback! So you're one of those Insecticons that I faced in the old days. Now, any last words, Kickback?" Grimlock asked.

"Just four: this is for Sharpshot!" Kickback glared before he activated the phase shifter, which was hooked to his wrist and charged towards him.

Grimlock was ready, but when Kickback jumped and kicked Grimlock he pulled him out of the armor.

"A phase shifter?" Grimlock asked confused.

"Now that was a plan!" Kickback shouted as the armor collapsed.

"Whoa. I'm starting to like that guy." Knock Out said surprised, making Airachnid to sigh in annoyance.

But Grimlock soon realized that he was near to the small pile of red energon that he pulled out of the crane.

"You're not the only one who can improvise!" Grimlock said as he grabbed a few containers. "Think fast!" He said launching them all at the crane.

The impact caused the crane to explode, while the other Decepticons were still on it.

"No." Kickback said as he covered himself from the falling parts.

Grimlock took the chance and took the red energon with him. Kickback walked to the crane's remains with his head down, but he saw that the other Decepticons managed to escape from the explosion. Next he saw a small fragment of red energon below him, so he grabbed it. Moments later they retuned back to base.

"I told ya I just needed to borrow it for a while, Shockwave." Kickback said giving the phase shifter to Shockwave.

"He thought Kickback was trying to steal your relics." Flamewar explained.

"Only until Kickback explained his plan, which I found logical, that's why I then sanctioned it. It's called protocol." Shockwave clarified.

"Shockwave is correct. Standard procedure must be observed by every member of this team." Megatron supported, making Kickback to low his head. "However, I believe we must also commend Kickback. You've proven to be a quick study by choosing to place strategy above bravado." Megatron said putting a hand on Kickback's shoulder.

"There's gonna be no living with him now." Knock Out said.

"While this might lack the normal welcoming to the Decepticon ranks, I wish to welcome you and Flamewar to our team." Megatron declared.

Flamewar and Kickback felt very happy to be accepted by the team. But of course not everyone was happy: Starscream was still lying on the floor with his arms crossed while Breakdown was moaning at the corridor's entrance with a sad expression on his face.

"The newbies did alright." Breakdown assumed as he looked the Apex Armor next to him.

At seeing that, Miko ran to him.

"Don't worry, Breaky. They aren't got nothing on you." She cheered.

But Breakdown didn't say anything as he turned back and walked down the corridor.

"Seriously, once we get that leg of yours back in shape these newbies are going to learn real quick who the top wrecking machine is around here!" Miko tried again, but Breakdown didn't respond. "Breakdown?"

All that remained was silent and the sound of Breakdown dragging his legs.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter Forty Four- Orbital Menace**

It was night in an abandoned facility, and inside it someone was working with heavy machinery, they were the Star Seekers. Cannonball ended connecting two cables before Axer pressed a few buttons. Then a bunch of electricity and lot of energon started to flow inside a body. But then a few little explosions shake the place.

"Brimstone, what's going on?!" Cannonball asked.

"An overload! I'm trying to fix it!"

"Cursed human tech." Axer said.

When the smoke disappeared everyone looked to the cybertronian who was in front of them. Suddenly Thundertron opened his eyes and saw everyone cheering for him.

"Welcome back, captain." Cannonball said.

Thundertron looked that some parts of his body looked a little different. "What have you done?"

"What we needed to do. In order to save you, Thundertron. A logical evolution of our experiments and bio-tech. We used our old elite soldier's parts to replace all your damaged parts and to recompose the most affected main systems." Brimstone explained.

"Well done." Thundertron thanked. "Where is Sandstorm?"

"We don't know, but he was present during your stasis phase. After that he disappeared without trace." Axer reported. "So, what's your command?"

"Good question. You see, our last encounter with the Decepticons has showed me why they are so successful in their fights against us and the Autobots." Thundertron communicated while he was released from all the cables. "So, in order to perform our future operations, we need to eliminate our strongest enemies, and for that we require a little help. The enemy of my enemy is my comrade."

Time later, Cannonball drove towards a military base and stopped in front of the gates. A guard came to see the driver, but when the window lowered he saw no one on the driver's seat.

"Greetings soldier. We came for a little, shopping." Cannonball said pulling out a pair of laser cannons on his sides as behind him the rest of the Star Seekers advanced towards the base, ready to attack.

Meanwhile, inside the Decepticon base, someone was starting to feel right. Breakdown was able to walk normally, run and punch with all his strength again. Giving the fact that Starscream was not all recovered like Breakdown made him to be depressed and mad.

"Congratulations, Breakdown. Your recovery is 100% complete." Knock Out declared.

"Yes! The Stunticon is back!" Breakdown said as he stretches his arms. "I never felt better."

"See Breaky? You're ready to crush bots once again." Miko cheered.

"You beat. But I would not have been able to recover like this if it were not for your help." Breakdown said to Miko. "Sorry for you, commander."

"Talk by yourself." Starscream said mad sat on the floor.

"Starscream, you really mustn't allow yourself to decline." Knock Out said.

"Yeah, you got to pull yourself out of this fang." Miko encouraged.

"What's the use?" He answered.

"You need to regain your strength. The time will come when…" Shockwave began.

"When what? When all of you need an assist? Isn't that what the new guys are for?" Starscream interrupted.

"Hey commander, I've thinking. With your injury and all, you might want to take advantage of the armor I snagged from Grimlock." Kickback said carrying the Apex Armor. "Instant muscle suit!"

"You think I need a crutch?!" Starscream said angry before he grabbed the armor and threw it away, hitting one of the terminals.

"Starscream, I just buffed that!" Knock Out yelled.

"Out of my way, bug!" Starscream said as he shoved Kickback and walked away. Next he picked up the lob ball and began doing some exercises.

"He can walk! Looks like he's fit for duty to me." Flamewar said.

"You don't even know what you are talking about." Knock Out mumbled as he went to repair the damage.

The two Decepticons looked to Miko, who gave them a thumbs-up.

"Hold a sec, I'm only seeing two humans here. Are not there supposed to be three?" Kickback noticed.

That caught Knock Out's attention, as well as Breakdown. "You're right. Where's Raf?"

Soundwave lowered his head as he pointed to Jack, who was speaking to the phone.

"You've got to be kidding, Raf. You, of all people, grounded?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Big time. I misplaced some homework and blew a couple of tests." Raf told.

"Translation: A- instead of A." Knock Out said.

"I'm probably spending too much time at the base." Raf continued.

"Rafael? I hope you're not on the phone in there!" A woman's voice said.

"No mama!" Raf answered before returning to the phone. "Say hi to Sting for me. Until I improve these grades, I'm off the team." He said before he hung up.

After that everyone looked to Starscream.

"Just when we get one back, we lose another." Miko said.

"I understand the reason for Rafael's absence. He had to improve his skills because he has neglected them. Soundwave and I tried to maintain our skills on the top for that." Shockwave added.

Meanwhile, at the Ark, everything was going quite until Blaster detected something strange. He immediately showed it to the others.

"Strange. Optimus, we have received a strange transmission addressed to us. According with Blaster it's encrypted, so the emissary is unknown, but comes with coordinates." Ratchet reported.

"Investigate with caution. It may will be a Decepticon trick." Optimus ordered.

"If that's the case, we should go many to secure any kind of trap." Cliffjumper encouraged.

The coordinates led to the same military base the Star Seekers located, but now was destroyed, and it was no signs of humans anywhere. The ground bridge opened and Arcee, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Cliffjumper came out.

"How weird. It's a human military base." Smokescreen observed.

"But look at this place. It looks like an entire army of wrecking balls took the place down." Bulkhead added.

"It looks to me that this place was attacked." Wheeljack noticed.

"Yeah, but by whom?" Arcee asked.

Then they heard a lot of footsteps coming from a big hole with smoke coming out of one of the big buildings. The Autobots prepared their weapons, and them they saw the Star Seekers getting through the hole.

"Thundertron?" Cliffjumper asked in disbelief.

"Was it you who sent us that message?" Smokescreen added.

"I see that Autobots do not waste time responding." Thundertron said when he saw them.

"Why did you bring us here? To set us a trap?" Bumblebee asked while he and the others aimed their weapons at the Star Seekers.

"Not this time. Eliminating Autobots wouldn't be as interesting as this." Thundertron said as his soldiers took out a big case. "So, take me to your leader."

Fortunately, that was noticed too by the Decepticons's allies.

"At sixteen thirty hours, a satellite was stolen from a high security military vault. Surveillance showed the Star Seekers at the scene." Silas reported.

"We have not heard from them for a long time." Starscream said.

"( **But I thought Nemesis Prime squished their leader.** )" Stinger pointed.

"Yeah, I thought Thundertron was scrap." Airachnid added.

"So did I." Starscream followed.

"What have they stolen?" Shockwave asked.

"The stolen satellite was project Damocles. Invented by a server." Silas answered.

"You created that? Then why they want it?" Shockwave asked.

"I think I know why." Silas said.

"Agent Silas, even if he was alive, are you suggesting that Thundertron has aligned the Star Seekers with the Autobots? I highly doubt that Optimus Prime would entertain such an idea?" Starscream laughed.

"Why not? Maybe they though that seeing that the human-bot alliance works for us they want to try something similar." Jack suggested.

"Maybe." Airachnid answered.

Meanwhile, aboard the Ark…

"Autobots, what is the meaning of this?! What is this Star Seeker scum doing aboard my ship?!" Optimus demanded furious.

"Easy, Prime. Let's bury the war axe for a while. Thundertron said.

"These are the pirate scum who tortured me!" Bulkhead yelled as he pulled out his wrecking balls.

Wheeljack did the same with his swords. "Please sir, allow us to return them the favor."

"I came to offer you a truce." Thundertron continued.

"Sir, these assassins have caused too much damage to the Autobots. Too many fallen comrades thanks to them." Smokescreen said.

"Please sir, for all our fallen brothers and sisters." An Autobot soldier added.

"Easy troops. Let's heard them before Prime comes with a decision." Ultra Magnus calmed down.

"I know that the Decepticons have ruined your operations a lot, the same as mine. But I think I finally have discovered what provides Megatron an advantage. At least on this world." Thundertron followed.

"And that would be?" Optimus asked.

"The human factor." Cannonball answered.

"Hahaha, please. How is it possible that humans can rival our greatness?" Ratchet laughed.

"Maybe some of you already realized how very similar they are to us, and even they can be that creative. Like this no ordinary weapon." Brimstone explained looking to the case.

The same as there, in the Decepticon base Silas was showing everyone an image of the satellite.

"Damocles is a particle beam cannon so powerful it can slice up the Pentagon like a birthday cake or give everyone on Mount Rushmore a Mohawk all from a satellite in orbit." Silas explained. "I designed it to be a prototype for a defense project against cosmic menaces, like meteors. But in Prime's hands…"

"It could be a threat to anyone. Anywhere on the planet." Optimus finished.

"With pinpoint accuracy at the flick of a switch." Cannonball finished.

"And what is it that you wish in return?" Optimus asked.

"Merely that we work together to finish with our common foes." Thundertron answered.

Optimus decided to discuss it with Ratchet, Elita One and Ultra Magnus before to make an answer.

"You're definitely not going to believe these traitors. They are responsible of the losses of many good Autobots, you already heard the others." Ratchet protested.

"I agreed with you on that, Ratchet. Although they are also our enemies, it's true that the Decepticons have caused us more problems than them recently." Ultra Magnus said.

"And this offer could provide us with the advantage we need to gain the upper hand against Megatron. Perhaps we should accept it for now, as we try to figure out what Thundertron is really up to." Elita opined.

With all discussed, Optimus returned with Thundertron with offered him his hand, and Optimus shook it, while the Autobots looked them with anger and deception. Meanwhile, at the Decepticon base…

"The Bots may have the satellite, but they can't use it without the interface code. The only existing copy is stored on the secure server at headquarters in Colorado." Silas informed.

"We must keep the code out of Autobot hands at all cost." Megatron said. "Soundwave, you're the only one who can block the code, preventing the Autobots to obtain it, so you will have constant cover until we arrive to the target. But beware; it's very possible that Blaster could be there."

Soundwave pressed his fist when he heard that, as he nodded to Megatron.

"It's break time!" Breakdown said as he finally joined the team for a long time.

Starscream was going to join them, but…

"Hey, hey, hey. I have not yet cleared you for active duty nor are you ready to rise!" Knock Out reminded.

That made Starscream groan with frustration.

"Don't worry, commander. I'll smash some Bots for you." Breakdown said.

In that moment, the base of Colorado was starting a total evacuation.

"Attention, all personal are ordered to evacuate immediately! We have a level five radiation leak. Repeat, evacuate immediately!" Silas voice said, but it was Blaster who reproduced a recording with his voice.

Once the base was clear, Blaster got inside the command center. He plugged one of his tentacles into a computer keyboard and began to download the codes. In that moment the Decepticons appeared through the ground bridge, but immediately they received fire from both Autobot and Star Seeker soldiers, who were protecting the command center.

"The Autobots have preceded us." Megatron said.

"And it seems that Silas deductions of their alliance with the Star Seekers are right." Shockwave observed.

"We must secure the command center." Megatron instructed as they began to charge.

Optimus and Thundertron watched them from a monitor of the Ark.

"The Decepticons have arrived!" Optimus saw.

"Optimus, relax." Thundertron said, but he only received a mad look from him. "Optimus Prime."

"Blaster may need to download the code in order to remove the operating Damocles from here, on your warship. But while jacked into the mainframe Damocles is his to command." Brimstone explained as he pressed a button.

The satellite was launched from the warship, aimed at Earth and began to charge its power.

"Blaster, prepare the Beta test." Optimus instructed through the com-link.

Blaster inserted his other tentacle in other terminal, activating Damocles targeting system. The Decepticons continued their approach when Flamewar changed to her vehicle form and drove towards their enemies. Once she was close enough she returned to her robot form and shot at the closest ones. One Star Seeker tackled her, but she managed to stand over him and punched him. In that moment, Damocles fired a powerful beam at Earth. The beam was going to hit Flamewar, but she dodged it in the last moment making it to hit the Star Seeker.

"Whoa." She said when she saw the soldier totally fried.

The result was seen in the Ark.

"Promising." Optimus said.

The satellite continued firing at the Autobots.

"Fall back." Megatron ordered.

The Decepticons retrieved as the beam followed them.

"This has just become more complicated." Airachnid said.

"Soundwave, can you remotely disable project Damocles?" Megatron asked.

"Negative, I can't secure the codes without any terminal to operate and the proper advisement." Soundwave explained.

"Perhaps we should call for backup to base." Flamewar suggested.

"I don't think Knock Out could make that kind of operation for his own giving his experience. But I know of someone who does." Breakdown said.

Raf was in his room with his homework when suddenly the ground bridge opened behind him and Jack, Miko and agent Silas came through.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked in disbelief.

"Son, your planet needs you." Silas said as he handed him the file of Damocles.

Back with the Decepticons, the satellite stopped firing.

"Decepticons, we must draw its fire to distract it from Rafael's efforts." Megatron said.

Then Damocles fired again.

"Somehow I don't think that would be any problem." Airachnid said.

The Decepticons transformed and drove away to make the beam to follow them. Meanwhile, at the base…

"Knock Out, I need to go there, now." Starscream said.

"So you can be an even easier target? You have yet to regain your full range of motion." Knock Out said.

"This is not a question of strength, Knock Out, this is about another thing." Starscream answered.

"Huh? Something personal?" Knock Out asked interested.

"Honor. When the Autobots and Star Seekers discover that something is wrong with the satellite they will try to discover who's trying to sabotage it. And I know who they will send to solve it." Starscream said.

"Hum, that's a reasonable deduction." Knock Out though. "Okay Starscream, you are cleared for duty."

"Yes."

"But for a duty of my choosing! And I know which you are referring." Knock Out corrected as Starscream nodded.

Meanwhile, Raf was working in how to stop the satellite.

"I'm in, but I can't reach the targeting systems. Too many firewalls." Raf said.

"Come on, son. If the Bots make off with that interface code Damocles will light up the sky 24/7." Silas reminded.

"Let them have the code. It won't do them any good without the satellite." Raf said.

"I…can't say I follow." Silas admitted.

"All satellites have maneuvering thrusters so they can adjust their orbits." Raf explained as he looked the file. "If I can break into the navigational sub routine, I can bring the whole satellite down!"

"Great!" Silas yelled.

"Are you not mad about destroying something that you created?" Jack asked curious.

"I prefer to see it shattered than in the hands of an Autobot." Silas admitted. "So, which way is the bathroom?"

Everyone looked at him in disbelief, except Raf, who was alarmed.

"What?! No, if my mom sees you…"

"Relax. I'm trained in spec ops." Silas interrupted.

"I don't care if you were trained by ninjas! My mom has eyes in the back of your head!" Raf explained.

Then on the Ark's screen appeared a window of 'System Breach'.

"An intruder in the system? Blaster, we have a breach! And I don't think is from your known rival, Soundwave." Optimus communicated.

The map zoomed to a very familiar area for the Star Seekers.

"Jasper, Nevada. It can only be the Decepticon human allies." Thundertron deduced.

"Then perhaps you should attend to the matter." Optimus suggested.

"I will send one of my subordinates." Thundertron answered.

"I will take care of that job." Axer offered.

The satellite's beam continued trying to pulverize the Decepticons, but it was difficult because some of them could fly, but of course even that didn't allow them to arrive to the command center.

"Clear shot! I'm going in!" Flamewar said seeing a chance. She managed to evade the beam very close. "Scratch that."

Meanwhile, above Jasper, Axer flew directly to where the intruder's signal came. Once he was close enough he stopped in middle of the air and aimed his targeting system to Raf's house.

"There you are. Good night, hacker." Axer said as he saw the kids through the window.

He was about to fire when suddenly Starscream came flying and rammed him.

"Those little children are under our protection! Thanks for understand this, Knock Out." Starscream said.

"Oh, holy scrap!" Axer cursed.

Starscream pushed down Axer until they transformed and landed in the same canal where the Autobots and children first met.

"Axer!"

"Long time since the last time we met alone, commander. I didn't believe anyone could intercept me in eliminating the little kids, but if there was someone it could only be you." Axer said.

"We did not finish the conversation long ago. I need to know it, why did you do it?" Starscream asked.

"Really? Because by that I could get all the freedom that I wanted." Axer answered.

"You were already free when you were in the Seekers, you betrayed us and joined that cursed group of assassins and thieves, so don't try to fool me!"

"Who is more murderer? The ones who ended up with our planet or those who go after them?!" Axer responded.

"You know that's not like you think. You have stained the Seekers's name and I am going to clean it. It's time to do justice." Starscream said preparing his claws.

"You can try." Axer challenged pulling out his drill.

Axer charged, but Starscream managed to block him. Axer knocked him off his feet, but the Seeker quickly got on his feet. He evaded Axer's drill and received a hit, but he blocked Starscream's next hit and hit him on the head, sending him to the wall. Starscream was down and looked at Axer, who taunted him to come at him, so Starscream fell for the taunt and charged at him. At the same time…

"Starscream, do you read? Starscream?" Knock Out said trying to contact him, with no respond.

Blaster was 75%done downloading the code. Meanwhile the Decepticons managed to shot against more Autobots and Star Seekers, but the satellite's beam forced them to look for cover.

"Megatron, I fear that Starscream requires immediate back-up." Knock Out said through the com-link.

Back with the kids, Raf was still working on his plan.

"Ah, where did they hide the substring?" Raf said.

In that moment, agent Silas returned from his incursion to the bathroom. "FWI. You're low on toilet paper."

Meanwhile, Starscream wasn't doing well in his fight with Axer, he was dodging his attacks.

"Your reaction time is slow; you're favoring your right side. Your legs are weak." Axer observed before he dodged again and knocked him off his feet.

"I'll show you other things." Starscream said before he launched a missile that exploded very near of Axer, sending him flying.

"Not bad. You still have a few tricks." Axer admitted as he saw Starscream coming. "But not anymore."

Axer dodged Starscream's attack and hit him on his back, making him lying on the ground.

"You should have stayed in bed, Starscream. Farewell, former commander." Axer said as he prepared his drill to finish him.

But then Kickback tackled him and grabbed him in his bug form.

"What?! An Insecticon?! Let me go!" Axer said in confusion.

Kickback launched Axer high as he transformed and kicked him strong. Starscream looked to see Kickback coming to his need.

"Assist. What the new guys are for." Kickback said as he helped Starscream to get up.

But unfortunately Axer returned very fast. "One new guy to another." Axer said as he cracked his head. "This is your final day on the job."

And Axer charged against the two Decepticons. Meanwhile, Blaster saw the warning message about Raf's try to sabotage the satellite and communicated it to Optimus.

"They're attempting to disable the satellite!" Optimus saw.

"Axer, how difficult is it to squash a human child?!" Thundertron asked through the com-link, without answer. "Axer!"

Blaster managed to finally download the code at 100%.

"We have the codes? Then target the intruder and destroy him!" Optimus ordered.

Outside, Stinger and Breakdown were being chased by the beam, but then it stopped following them and changed its route.

"This is our opportunity. Decepticons, storm the command center." Megatron instructed.

Everyone saw that too in Raf's room.

"I'm almost there." Raf said.

"Raf, rock on. It's moving." Miko cheered.

"Huh, that isn't me." Raf confessed.

The satellite moved a little before charging its weapon again. As the Decepticons managed to eliminate the last soldiers, the kids saw where the satellite was aiming.

"Huh guys, that's Jasper." Jack recognized.

"Uh, I can see my host parents' house." Miko said excited.

Then the screen stopped in one of the houses. "And I can see my house. Right in their target sights!"

"Any time, son." Silas said after he looked above them.

"Full thruster burn!" Raf yelled pressing the keyboard.

That caused that the satellite flew out of its orbit, falling to Earth. The beam did not hit Raf's house, but it hit the top of Jack work place. At seeing that, Optimus roared in anger, while the kids cheered in victory and Raf sighed in relief.

"Yes, you're a genius." Jack and Silas said.

But then, someone called from the door.

"Rafael Jorge Gonzalez Esquivel! What is going on in here?" Raf's mom asked as she opened the door.

Fortunately the kids and Silas grabbed some books and sat on the floor like some kind of special activity. "Study group."

Inside the command center, the last guard went down as the Decepticons nearly arrived to the command center. Blaster already saw that the satellite was down, so he couldn't do anything more there, but before he could get out Soundwave came from above. Both rivals looked each other with fury and started fighting. Because they both were good they ended continually blocking their attacks, until the other Decepticons arrived and Blaster was forced to retrieve on his vehicle form, while Soundwave saw him leaving, closing his hands in anger. At the same time, Axer was continually being hit by Starscream and Kickback, until Kickback grabbed Starscream's wings with his back claws and made a somersault that launched him against Axer, and kicking him on the face sent him flying to the ground.

"Axer, return to the Ark immediately." Thundertron ordered through the com-link.

"This is not over, commander." Axer swore as he launched two missiles at them before transformed and flew towards his ground bridge.

Starscream tried to stop him with a missile, but it missed. Next they looked back to see the satellites remains crashing down.

"Looks like someone's big plan just burned up in reentry." Starscream said before he and Kickback high-fived each other.

"And for the record, I studied every one of the Seekers' flying tactics, so I can improve my sky combat style." Kickback added.

"There's hope for you yet, Kickback." Starscream said with a smile, finally accepting him.

Moments later, the main Star Seekers were aboard the Ark with the Autobots.

"Thundertron, after a long deliberation, I think you have earned a place at the table." Optimus said.

"I'm glad that you finally have seen the reality, Prime." Thundertron said.

"Ratchet experimental table." Optimus corrected.

Thundertron's face showed a huge shock when he realized that the Autobots didn't want to have a truce.

"Autobots, arrest them!" Ultra Magnus ordered.

Immediately Smokescreen and Cliffjumper grabbed Brimstone, while Axer was grabbed by Bulkhead and Wheeljack.

"No! You can't do this, we came to an agreement!" Cannonball getting free from the Autobots who tried to grab him, but then he received a direct shot on the chest, made by Elita One. Next he was dragged in front of Ultra Magnus.

"By the crime of assassination, stealing, obtrusion and by all the losses to the Autobot cause, I sentence you to extermination." Ultra Magnus said before he raised the Forge of Solus Prime and smashed his head, killing him.

"No! Optimus, why?!" Thundertron asked in disbelief.

"Because Damocles was the only good thing you had to offer, and it is no more. This truce is not the same as you said about the human factor, which did indeed ty the scales in favor of my enemies." Optimus said looking at Blaster when he showed a picture of Raf, Miko and Jack. "Besides all the other loose ends. Take those two to the prison block; let them rust for the end of their lives."

Brimstone and Axer were taken to the prison block while Optimus hit Thundertron in the face, making to fall to his knees.

Then Optimus grabbed him by the neck. "Do you really though that you were going to fool me? That I would not consider the voice of my Autobots and forget everything like nothing happened?! You caused many losses to the Autobots for a very long time, and that's something that I will not forget. Besides, you have something that belongs to me, something that belonged to my predecessors." Optimus said as he took Thundertron's sword. "I knew this sword was familiar for me: the Chaos Edge, one of the many swords carried by Nexus Prime, and one of my ancestors lost relics. I wonder which more ancient treasures you have hidden and stolen in the deeps of your ship. Ultra Magnus, send the troops to register the Tidal Wave. Once you took out all the resources they have, we'll blow it up."

"No!" Thundertron yelled, but Optimus hit him with the sword, taking him down.

"He will be a perfect subject for your experiments, old friend." Optimus said.

"I will leave no fiber or fiber optic unexamined." Ratchet said touching Thundertron's eye. "Take him to my lab. I have great ideas for you."

Two Autobot heavy soldiers followed Ratchet while they dragged Thundertron.

"No! Please Optimus, reconsider this! You're wasting a great chance! NOOOOOOO!" Thundertron begged.

Next Optimus and Elita saw when all their forces left the Tidal Wave before the Ark's big weapons destroyed it. That was the end of the Star Seekers.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter Forty Five- The Great Sword**

It was a natural day when Stinger was patrolling through the desert, while Kickback flew above him.

"Energon signal is getting stronger. Above five clicks due north." Kickback communicated as he speeded up.

"( **Slow down! You're violating the speed limit! And humans mustn't see you!** )" Stinger warned.

"What do you mean with that? That speed limit only goes for cars like your alt mode on land, that doesn't include special cases like me. And don't worry; I know where I can fly freely." Kickback said as he flew faster, activating the engines of his big legs.

Kickback flew very fast through the canyon, but he almost collided against a jeep which was driven on the opposite lane. Fortunately Kickback dodged it and landed behind a rock. The jeep's driver came out of his vehicle, very mad.

"Hey you! I saw you hiding behind that rock! When I'm through with you, you're gonna need more than a pit crew to put you back together." He said with a crowbar in hand.

Kickback came out from his hiding, scaring the human.

"AHH! Giant metallic bug!" He yelled.

Next Kickback changed to his robot form and bent down to the driver, making him to drop the crowbar. "What's wrong? Who's the tough guy now, huh?"

Stinger honked his horn and transformed to his robot form. Next he pushed Kickback away from the driver.

"( **Kickback, we're not supposed to hurt humans! Keep your animal instincts under control!** )" Stinger reminded.

Kickback just laughed. "Relax, Stinger. We're just messing around."

They were not aware that the human took out his phone to make them a picture.

"( **No! No pictures!** )" Stinger begged while Kickback posed with the victory sign.

Back in the Decepticon base, everyone saw that image posted on the web.

"Found it! Old road rage didn't waste any time posting your mug-shots. Raf'll scrub this as soon as he's back from house hunting." Jack said.

"Is this what learned while you read The Fallen's memories?! I highly doubt that he would condone such irresponsible behavior!" Starscream shouted.

"Blowing your cover is not a logical action." Shockwave added.

"And be glad that you didn't make things worse unleashing your primal instincts." Airachnid added.

"Sorry guys. I know I really messed up." Kickback apologized.

"While Starscream and Shockwave are correct, I believe that we are all equally responsible for this incident." Megatron said.

"Us?!" Airachnid asked in disbelief.

"How?!" Knock Out followed.

"We weren't even there!" Breakdown shouted.

"( **Then why we're all guilty?** )" Stinger asked.

"Well, Sting was." Breakdown pointed.

"( **Hey!** )" Stinger protested.

"Our recent efforts have been so intensely focused on adverting crises that we have overlooked simple matters: such as teaching our new members how to best function on this planet. It is an oversight that must be corrected." Megatron explained.

"Lord Megatron, I am honored to train under you, and will do whatever it takes to make things right. To make you proud." Kickback answered.

"Giving your special case, Kickback, we'll show you the best way to operate on Earth. Giant metallic invertebrates are something not of the human world. As for Flamewar, perhaps the best way for her to learn about the human world is from a human." Megatron proclaimed.

"Flamewar gets her own partner?" Knock Out asked interested.

"Please, isn't having three humans here enough?" Starscream asked, causing a long silence while everyone looked at him with confused looks. He just simply groaned before getting back to the computers.

"I was referring to one already among us." Megatron corrected looking at Jack.

"Huh, sure Megatron. Robots in disguise, traffic laws, don't beat down humans. I can bring Flamewar up to speed." Jack nodded.

"We all put in curbside duty. Part of the gig." Breakdown cheered as he put a hand on Flamewar's shoulder.

Flamewar approached Jack while he climbed down the ladder. "Then let's go for a drive, Teach." She said before she changed to her motorcycle form.

That let Jack surprised. "Well, I have never ridden on a motorcycle before, but I've always wanted to do it for some time." He said ridding on Flamewar.

"Then now you have the chance. And don't feel embarrassed, it's my first time too in this kind of stuff." Flamewar said before they drove outside base.

Airachnid followed them until they were gone. "Megatron, with all due respect, agent Silas is out relocating Raf's family because the Bots discovered where he lives. Meanwhile Flamewar, and all her wisdom, choses a vehicle mode with very detailing flames on the sides, making her an easy target. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than concerned about Jack's safety."

"None the less. The fact remains that our new recruits are in need of instruction. I believe that Flamewar's spark is in the right place, the same as Kickback. And then she now understands the necessity of protecting humanity." Megatron said.

"Are you sure you're not a little jealous that he's with another girl now?" Knock Out asked in curiosity.

"Urg, don't be ridiculous." She answered.

"She sounds a little jealous for me." Kickback said.

Meanwhile, Jack was practicing with Flamewar the driving lessons.

"Ok, intersection. Let's review: light's green?" Jack asked.

"Green for go." Flamewar answered.

Then the next intersection's light turned yellow.

"And yellow?" Jack continued.

"Go faster!" Flamewar said before speeding up.

"Whoa, whoa, Flamewar!" Jack said alarmed.

But just when the light turned red she stopped.

Flamewar laughed. "Relax, I'm just messing around."

"Haha." Jack responded sarcastically, but then he saw another car coming next to him. "Oh oh." He recognized the car's driver, it was Vince, his school's bully, so tried to hide himself on the other side of Flamewar.

"What is it? Bots?!" Flamewar asked.

"Just someone from school I'd rather not talk to." Jack hissed.

Vince tried to see better who the motorcycle's driver was, and when he recognized Jack he began to take out something from a box of Jack's work place.

"Drive!" Jack asked.

"Red light, Teach. I can't." Flamewar answered.

Then Jack saw Vince throwing a burger at Flamewar, staining her left side before he drove away.

"Seriously?!" Flamewar said mad.

"Just… let it go." Jack said after he cleaned her.

"Are you serious? Where's your self-respect? You can't just left that guy keep imposing upon you, you've got to stand up for yourself! Besides, that's no way to treat a lady." Flamewar defended.

"We also have to follow Megatron's rule. It's not just about protecting humans… you can't harm them either." Jack retorted.

"Who said anything about harming? I propose that we give him some of his own medicine." Flamewar said, earning Jack's attention.

After a while, the two partners returned to the Decepticon base. But when they arrived, they were laughing a lot.

"I am so posting this tonight!" Jack howled continuing laughing with Flamewar after she transformed, while the others looked them confused. "Airachnid, guys, check out Vince's car!"

"The bully?" Airachnid asked as she, Knock Out and Kickback knelt down to see Jack's phone better.

The phone showed a picture of Vince's car, totally smothered in hamburgers and fast food. That caused Knock Out to laugh a lot, the same as Kickback, but not Airachnid, who showed a face of disappointing.

"Hey Vince, do you want fries with that?!" Jack mocked as he and Flamewar laughed again.

"Let me get this straight. So you taught Flamewar everything she never needed to know about fast food?" Airachnid asked.

"She passed drivers ed. Work hard, play hard." Jack responded before he left followed by Flamewar.

"That's right. And no humans were harmed in the making of these photos, honest!" Flamewar added.

"It seems that Jack has already become accustomed to his new partner." Knock Out said, earning a glare from Airachnid.

Meanwhile, aboard the Ark, Optimus was working on a terminal when Ratchet approached him.

"Optimus, how are you doing today?"

"Better than ever, old friend. I've finished decoding the next Iacon coordinates." Optimus answered.

"Then I can take this as a chance to Beta test our new decoy?" Ratchet asked, earning a smile from his leader.

Meanwhile, Soundwave was working in the same thing.

"Lord Megatron, I am nearly finished decoding the next Iacon coordinates."

Then a noise came from other terminal.

"You may not need to complete your task, Soundwave." Starscream pointed.

"An Iacon locator beacon." Megatron recognized.

"It seems the Autobots have already excavated the next relic." Shockwave added.

"Soundwave, triangulate the coordinates and activate the ground bridge." Megatron ordered. "Shockwave, remain here to watch any other issue."

"Understood." Shockwave nodded while Soundwave opened the ground bridge and the other Decepticons gathered in the entrance.

"Bring on the Bots." Kickback said cheered.

"Hold on. Where is Flamewar?" Starscream noticed.

"Out training again…with Jack." Airachnid answered.

"We cannot wait. Decepticons, transform and rise up!" Megatron proclaimed before everyone transformed and went through the portal.

Meanwhile, the Autobots were drilling through a mountain side. Everyone was busy, both Autobots and Insectobots, while Optimus was coordinating the excavation. Then one of the soldiers discovered something.

"Lord Prime! We've found something!" The soldier called.

"I certainly hope that our new acquisition is of Autobot origin, or a present from my ancestors." Optimus said as he walked to the marked place, but when he saw the relic he stopped in shock. "It cannot be."

There was something inserted in the rock, like a sword.

"Another lost treasure that my predecessors sent to me. I cannot wait to experience the power which it contains." Optimus said with an evil smile as he walked to the relic.

Optimus grabbed the relic, very confident, and tried to pull it out, but nothing happened. Optimus looked the relic confused before he tried again, again and again, with the same result; that made some of the Autobot soldiers to look between them confused. Optimus even roared as he tried to pull with all his forces, but without result. Tired from pulling, he changed his hands into his blasters and fired a dozen shots at the relic.

"Optimus, wait! Are you mad?! You wanna to destroy a relic of that caliber?!" Ratchet asked in disbelief.

But both Autobots sighed in shock as they saw the relic intact.

"The rock is impermeable. How can this be possible?" Ratchet said as he examined the relic closely.

"The relic is emanating a protective shield!" Optimus deduced.

"But, is not it supposed to respond to the power of a Prime?" Ratchet asked.

"I…I'm not sure." Optimus said confused as he looked to his hands. " _First the Forge of Solus Prime and now this. What's going on with me? I'm supposed to be a Prime, but why I can't access to the power of the Matrix?!_ " Optimus though.

"Optimus, why are you taking so long? Did you retrieve the relic?" Elita said through the com-link, getting him out of his thoughts.

"What should we do now? We just leave the relic here?" Ratchet asked while Optimus's face turned into rage.

"AH! If my deductions are true, we cannot allow that this power fall into the hands of Megatron! We will remove it even if we have to take the entire mountain!"

In that moment, Shockwave detected the relic's signal on the screen.

"Megatron, I just picked up a second Iacon locator beacon." Shockwave reported, but he only received static. "Megatron, do you read?"

The Decepticon team was searching through a bunk of mountain covered in fog.

"No sign of Bots." Breakdown noticed.

"Well Kickback, now you have the chance to use this for the first time. Mission routines." Knock Out said as he passed the tracker to Kickback.

Once he got used to how to use it, Kickback pointed to the south, guiding the group. But no one was aware that the signal they were following was the Autobot decoy, carried by Blaster above them. Meanwhile, Flamewar and Jack returned to base, laughing again.

"Oh dude, my boss is gonna freak!" Jack laughed.

"That thing we stuffed in his tailpipe…what was it called again?" Flamewar asked laughing.

"Pizza!" Jack howled, making them laugh again.

"Will you two keep it down?!" Shockwave yelled as he continued asking through the com-link. "Airachnid? Starscream? Soundwave? Can anyone hear me?"

"Shockwave, what's going on?" Jack asked.

"Our sensors detected a second Iacon locator beacon, but I can't reach Megatron."

"I'll go." Flamewar offered.

"Alone?" Shockwave asked.

"You have a better option?" She said.

"Fine." Shockwave agreed and opened the ground bridge before he went to continue trying to contact the others.

"He says fine, but I don't think he really wants me to go alone. So what do you say partner, another trip for only you and me?" Flamewar offered, so Jack understood immediately what she was referring.

The portal took them to the exact location, just in the edge of the forest.

"I…just pulled a Miko." Jack groaned.

"Let's go grab a relic!" Flamewar encouraged as she started running, so Jack followed her.

The two partners hid behind a couple of rocks where they saw the excavation site. Even from the distance, Jack spotted the relic.

"Whoa, it's a sword." Jack saw.

"Not just any sword, that looks like the Star Saber. I've heard stories about that weapon during the Iacon assault: it's a legendary weapon forged by Solus Prime, as lore would have it. It's rumored to wield the power of the Matrix. I'm gonna make Megatron proud." Flamewar said.

"Not a good idea." Jack objected.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because Optimus is here." Jack said pointing where Optimus was.

"The Warlord of Iacon himself. He won't know what hit him!" Flamewar chuckled, getting up.

"Flamewar wait! Something isn't right. Why isn't Optimus just take the Star Saber?" Jack pointed.

"I don't know. Germaphobe?"

"Seriously, we need to wait for backup."

"You heard Shockwave. Backup's not available right now." Flamewar said before jumping over the rocks, leaving Jack behind.

The Autobots continued mining the rock, until…

"ENOUGH!" Optimus yelled. "Commence transport!"

A hook cable was lowered from the Ark. When the hook grabbed ahold of the rock, the ship struggled to reel it in. While that was in progress, Optimus heard blaster fire and saw some of his soldiers firing at Flamewar, who shot down, sliced and punched, eliminating all the Autobots that was in her way.

"Who in the records of Iacon is that?" Optimus said in disbelief.

Flamewar reached the Star Saber, and when she tried to take it out happened the same thing as with Optimus.

"Scrap! It's really in there tight." She said before an Autobot blasted her on her back and she collapsed to the ground.

The blast only stunned her for a while, but she was already surrounded by Autobots.

"That was not going to get along with you." Ratchet said approaching.

"No. No, this can't be happening." Jack said before pulling out his phone. "Shockwave, you got to get Megatron here now. Flamewar went for the relic; it's called the Star Sab-…"

But before Jack could complete reporting he heard a hiss coming from behind him, and he saw an Insectobot coming at him, so he had no other choice than run.

"Where in the name of Cybertron are you?" Shockwave called through the com-link while Jack continued running away from the Insectobot.

"And did you say Star Sab-…?" Shockwave said before he heard the Insectobot sound, realizing what was going on. "Oh my, Jack?!" After that he continued the last thing. "Megatron, please respond! I can see that you're alive, Megatron, why won't you answer me?"

Back with the team, Kickback saw that the signal got far when they nearly reached it.

"AW! How frustrating. Every time we get close to the beacon the signal moves. I don't get it." Kickback groaned.

"All this leg-work is giving me itchy fists!" Breakdown shouted, slamming his fists together.

Soundwave looked the sky, searched all the patterns that they walked before analyzing every possibility. And then he finally understood what was going on. "Lord Megatron, I have registered several magnetic traces that disappeared when we followed the signal. And I will recognize Blaster's magnetic trail everywhere."

"It seems we've been led astray by an Autobot trick." Megatron deduced.

Then a ground bridge appeared next to them and Shockwave came out. "We have a situation."

Meanwhile, Jack was trying to dodge every attack that the Insectobot made with its claws, but now they were two. At the same time, the rock with the Star Saber stuck began to be transported, slowly but steady.

"Optimus, we managed to capture the one who attacked our soldiers. It seems it's a new Decepticon, well, at least for me. I have never seen her on this planet." Ratchet reported.

"Bring her to me." Optimus ordered.

Immediately the Autobot troopers grabbed Flamewar, while Jack hid inside a bunk of big rocks trying to get away from the Insectobots. Flamewar was dragged in front of Optimus Prime.

"What is your name, Decepticon?"

"Why? Who wants to know?" She asked.

Optimus growled in annoyance and was about to smack Flamewar, but then he heard another blaster firefight behind him. The Autobot soldiers fired against a smoke cloud, and then the Decepticons came out.

"Where is Megatron?" Optimus asked noticing Megatron's absence.

Then he saw Megatron jumping over some rocks before he transformed and flew towards the rock.

"Keep Megatron away from the relic! Elita, I need your help!" Optimus asked.

Elita One came flying in her alt form and allowed Optimus to ride over her before she flew followed by some Aerobots. Flamewar aimed her blaster at them, but another Autobot aimed his blaster at her. Fortunately one shot eliminated the soldier, made by Knock Out.

"Need some cover?"

While the rest of the team continued fighting the Autobots, Airachnid spotted the two Insectobots trying to reach Jack's hideout.

"Please Airachnid, allow me." Kickback said stopping her.

The Insectobots managed to reach Jack, but before they could grab him Kickback nailed his back's claws on one of them and turned his hand into a big blaster that shot a harpoon-like shot that killed the other ( **an Electro Bolter from Fall of Cybertron** ).

"Are you okay buddy?" Kickback asked.

"Kickback! Airachnid!" Jack said relieved.

"What could you possibly have been thinking?!" She asked mad.

Elita One, Optimus and the Aerobots fired at Megatron as he continued flying to the Star Saber.

"Farewell, Megatron." Elita said when she pointed at Megatron.

But before she could fire some shots almost hit her. Optimus saw behind them and spotted Soundwave firing at them. The Aerobots tried to slow him down, but a few missiles took down two, coming from Starscream who passed near to Megatron.

"Continue towards the relic, lord Megatron! Soundwave and I will take care of this Autobot scum!" He said before he continued chasing the remaining Aerobots.

"Many thanks, my friend." Megatron thanked.

When they finished the remaining enemies, the rest of the team, as well as Jack, saw Megatron's approaching to the rock. Megatron speeded up, but one of Elita's shots hit him, making him spinning and forcing him to change to robot form. Fortunately he was still approaching to the rock and managed to grab it, but remaining hanging from the rock while Elita and the surviving Aerobots passed nearby, except one who crashed into the rock. Suddenly the Star Saber began to power up, glowing with a blue aura, that allowed Megatron to remove it from the rock, but making him fall. Elita One, Optimus and the remaining Aerobots arrived to the Ark's hangar; they transformed and went inside the ship, just when Megatron landed on the ground, creating a dust smoke as he stood up with the Star Saber in hand.

"I loosened it for him." Flamewar muttered.

Optimus saw that too mad. "Drop the mountain on him."

The Ark released the hauled mountain, so it crashed on a hillside and started to roll down, directly towards Megatron.

"Megatron, retreat!" Starscream shouted.

"Now!" Knock Out added.

Megatron turned around to face the mountain, and with one swift slice the mountain was neatly sliced in two.

"Did he just…?" Breakdown started in disbelief.

"( **Yes, he did.** )" Stinger finished.

"No way." Jack added.

Next Megatron looked up at the Ark, where Optimus was distraught, showing real fear in his eyes. Knowing that Optimus was seeing him, Megatron winked at him before he ran and spun around before swinging the Star Saber. That move launched a wave of energy which damaged the Ark's engines, and shaking the ship and everyone inside.

"It can do that?" Kickback asked.

The Ark descended a little before the Autobots managed to pull the ship up.

"We Autobots… now face our darkest hour." Optimus said.

The team returned to the base, some of them still impressed for what they saw.

"How epic was that?" Knock Out started.

"You said it! And I saw it with my own optics, but I still don't believe it." Kickback said imitating Megatron's moves from the battle.

"You know what I don't believe? That after everything said, Flamewar goes and put a human at risk!" Airachnid said mad. "By the way, thanks Kickback. I really appreciate what you have done for me saving Jack."

"It wasn't big deal."

"Airachnid… it wasn't her fault. I shouldn't have…" Jack began.

"Don't even start with me! We'll talk tomorrow!" Airachnid interrupted before she turned to Soundwave. "Send Jack home."

Soundwave opened the ground bridge. Jack tried to say something more, but it was no use, so he walked to the portal, but he looked back to Flamewar before enter.

"Green for go." She said sadly, but with intention to calm him.

One Jack disappeared in the vortex and the portal closed, Airachnid turned again to Flamewar.

"We've been in need of another Decepticon in our ranks. Not another trouble maker girl."

"Look Airachnid. I was wrong and I'm sorry. And if you need to kick me out of the team…" Flamewar started.

"Disregard for human safety or anyone safety will not be tolerated. Do you understand?" Megatron said, very strict.

"Fully, sir." She answered.

"We must never loose sigh of the fact that upon this planet, we are titans. And such power must be used wisely." Megatron proclaimed.

Suddenly the Star Saber began to glow again. Megatron held the sword with his hands and began to look at it in a strange way.

"Whoa." Breakdown said.

"Megatron, speak to me." Shockwave said, but Megatron stood motionless.

"Lord Megatron?" Starscream asked.

"I am receiving a message." He finally said.

"From who?" Starscream asked.

"The Fallen." Megatron answered.


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter Forty Six- Duel of the Mighty Ones**

There was still a bit of tension in the Ark since the last damage inflicted by Megatron with the Star Saber.

"Forgive me, Optimus Prime, while I do not question your wisdom of our tactical retreat; know that I'm fully prepared to lead the troops in a counterattack against the Decepticons." Ultra Magnus said.

"Counterattack?!" Ratchet asked in disbelief. "Perhaps you have failed to notice that Megatron cleave an entire mountain with a single blow!"

"Ratchet is right." Optimus supported. "With the Star Saber in his possession, my enemy can obliterate us all with a wave of his hand. I must find a way to tip the balance of power back in our favor.

"Hem, excuse me my liege. But do we not also possess a powerful relic of the ancients?" Smokescreen asked.

"Indeed, the Forge of Solus Prime, but it is useless. I already tried it once." Optimus said before he turned back.

Everyone noticed that Optimus was more depressed than ever, specially his sparkmate. "Optimus, are you alright?"

"Yes. It is nothing."

"I know that's not true. You have been looking strange since your experience with the Star Saber, and you have never been like that. Please dear, tell me what worries you." Elita asked.

Optimus was confused, but he knew that if anyone could support him in any way it was Elita One. "When I tried to use the forge when we got it nothing happened. And now, with the Star Saber has happened the same. I can't explain it, but it seems that since the encounter with Unicron I have lost the ability to use the matrix's privileges, like if I'm not a Prime."

"But there must be a way to recover that power." Bee encouraged.

"We hope so, because in that case the forge is useless. Except in the hand of a Prime." Smoky said.

Then Optimus came out with something. "What did you just say, Smokescreen?"

"Huh, that the forge is useless, except in the hand of a Prime?" He repeated nervous.

Everyone expected a mad face, but instead Optimus laughed when an idea came to his mind.

"Perhaps I might recover that power, if I were to control such a hand."

Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base…

"Lord Megatron, what is The Fallen saying?" Starscream asked.

But Megatron was in trance so he couldn't hear him: he was in a dark and empty place. Then a white light flashed and he saw The Fallen's silhouette.

"I wish that I could meet you under better circumstances, my apprentice. But I fear that during the Iacon assault our destinies will be forced to remain separated." The Fallen said.

"So you speak to me from across the ages." Megatron realized.

"If you are listening to this message, then I take Solus that you now possess the Star Saber. I am certain that you have deduced how these cybertronian relics and Autobot weapons came to be found on such a remote world. Indeed, I transported them there. Not so much to keep them far from the evil renegaded Primes' hands, but to ensure they reach yours. As you may have long suspected, the Covenant of Primus records events of the future as well as the past. My imperfect understanding of its ruins affords me a shadowy glimpse of what is to come. The Covenant's pages foretold that you, Megatron, would journey to the small, but significant planet and there engage in a crucial chapter in the war against the Autobots. I know neither the nature of the battle or the outcome. I only hope that these relics of the ancients will aid the Decepticons in your time of need, and most importance. In a few moments I will launch the last of the relics: the most significant and powerful of them all." The Fallen told.

Finally Megatron came out of the trance, a little exhausted.

"Easy Megatron." Shockwave said.

"So, what was The Fallen's appearance?" Kickback asked in curiosity before Breakdown shoved him back.

"What was the message?" He asked.

"It is paramount that we recover the final four Iacon relics. The Omega keys." Megatron said.

"Keys?" Airachnid asked.

"To what?" Starscream asked.

"To the regeneration of our home planet." Megatron said.

Meanwhile, Optimus, Elita, Ratchet and Ultra Magnus were on the top of the Ark as it was heading to the moon.

"Earth's moon is a barren rock, is it not?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Indeed, Magnus. But the moon is not our destination." Elita reassured.

The Ark flew around until it revealed what was behind it.

"A space bridge?" Ultra Magnus saw.

"Our very own. Relocated here after the Decepticons discovered its whereabouts on Earth." Optimus explained.

"The dark side of the moon is hidden from prying human eyes and more importantly, way out of the Decepticons reach." Ratchet finished. "Blaster, activate it!"

"Ratchet, you're in command during our absence, and prepare your lab. Come, my friends. We shall travel to the one place in the universe which may provide us with the means of defeating Megatron." Optimus instructed.

Once the ship arrived to the space bridge, Optimus, Magnus and Elita jumped to it and went through the portal. At the same time, everyone was excited in the Decepticon base.

"Pack your gear! We're going back to Cybertron!" Knock Out said excited.

"( **I still can't believe it.** )"

"Hahaha, well believe it now, Stinger! Civilization, at last." Starscream said.

"But we just got here." Kickback said.

"Remember oil baths? First thing I'm gonna do planet-side is soak for an entire solar cycle." Flamewar said.

"Hahaha, I can't wait to tell Miko." Breakdown started, but suddenly he realized what would happen if they returned home.

"And Jack." Airachnid said sad.

"( **And Raf.** )" Stinger said lowering his head.

Kickback walked to Megatron while he supervised Soundwave's efforts decoding the next set of coordinates. "Lord Megatron, keys open doors. Can they really revive an entire planet?"

"While I am unfamiliar with the lore of these Omega keys, The Fallen knew many secrets. And the ancients possessed technology that has long been lost to what we consider modern science." Megatron told.

Meanwhile, the space bridge brought the three Autobots back to Cybertron, still in ruins. They travelled in vehicle mode.

"The devastation to our home planet is worse than I remembered. Curse the Decepticons to the pit!" Ultra Magnus declared as they passed through the cities in ruins.

Back with the Decepticons, everyone was reunited around Megatron.

"Whatever their function, this much is certain: we cannot restore Cybertron without all four Omega keys in our possession." Megatron said.

"Which means we cannot afford to lose a single one to Optimus Prime." Starscream pointed.

"Four sets of coordinates from The Fallen remain encrypted. It is logical to conclude that each corresponds to the location of one of the Omega keys." Shockwave deduced.

"That means that I must not waiver until I decode them all."

"Exactly Soundwave. The future of our home world depends on it." Megatron finished.

On Cybertron, the Autobots entered a room of a mausoleum.

"A tomb?" Ultra Magnus observed.

"One known to contain the remains of my Prime predecessors. My master brought me here when he told me I was going to be one of them." Optimus explained.

"And what exactly are you going to do to regain your power?" Elita asked.

"Even if they are dead, I'm sure that the Matrix's power is still inside it, printed with its energon and its genetic code, regardless of the state in which it is. Please, tell me you're not adverse to desecration." Optimus said to Ultra Magnus.

"It is just that being in such a place evokes powerful emotions. Considering the fate of my sparkmate." Ultra Magnus confessed.

"Then you should delight in our purpose here to exact our revenge of Causeway and of all our fallen brethren." Elita said.

Ultra Magnus removed the lid of the tomb. Once it was completely removed he stepped away with fear. Given the fact that Optimus wanted to show respect to his predecessors, Elita turned her hand into a sword and sliced a limb of the dead Prime, before she inserted a little tube that extracted a little drop of energon. Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base, Shockwave was working on something for the Star Saber.

"You shall require a more practical means of carrying such a blade." Shockwave said to Megatron, while the other Decepticons were reunited talking about an important detail.

"I feel funny saying this, but I'm not sure I wanna go back." Airachnid admitted.

"Who knew we'd ever get so use to our new home." Knock Out added.

"( **I do not know how we're going to say goodbye to our friends.** )" Stinger said.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd ever wanna leave Miko." Breakdown said.

"We've made friends here, family." Knock Out added.

"We could always…text them." Starscream said, trying to cheer them up, hiding his true feelings.

"Besides, I've been fighting for so long, I don't know if I can do anything else." Breakdown pointed.

"You can try getting back into construction. The power of the ancients might breath life back into Cybertron's core, but our war-ravaged cities will surely require rebuilding." Shockwave said.

"I wouldn't make any travel plans just yet. We still have to locate these Omega keys and secure them before the Bots do." Starscream reminded.

"Yeah, like that'll be a problem. Megatron has the Star Saber now. Prime's end is in sight." Kickback said.

Moments later Optimus returned to the Ark, now he was lying on an operating table of Ratchet's lab.

"Yes, I can do it, Optimus. If you're certain that's what you really want." Ratchet said.

"Like nothing I have ever desired before, old friend." Optimus nodded.

"Okay, but I must warn you about possible side effects. As it is not about your own genetic code, the pressure that will have to support yours to keep it assimilated will cause a constant loss of energon, only on the arm where I will perform it."

"I will bear it. It's much more that I can earn than what I will lose." Optimus confirmed.

Then Ratchet understood it. "I shall induce stasis."

"No! I wish to bear witness as how that power will return to me." Optimus asked.

"As you wish. But it will not be pleasant." Ratchet said as he pressed a button.

Next to them was a tank full with a little amount of energon, which started to fluid to Optimus's right hand. Meanwhile in the Decepticon base…

"Megatron, I have decoded the first set of the final four coordinates."

"Good job, Soundwave. Decepticons, the first set is ready. Divide into teams in the event that Soundwave is able to decode another before the first team returns." Megatron instructed.

"I'm on team 1. Who's with me?" Kickback asked.

"I'm coming with you, Kickback." Flamewar offered as she walked to the ground bridge.

"In that case, who's the one in charge?" Kickback asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it could be like no leader, just two equals." Flamewar suggested.

"This should be interesting." Starscream mumbled before he imputed the coordinates and activated the ground bridge.

After the operation, Optimus, with his right hand leaking energon slowly, grabbed the forge of Solus Prime, and unlike before this time it activated.

Optimus laughed sinisterly. "Yes. Finally, the power of the Primes is mine, again!"

The ground bridge transported Kickback and Flamewar to Egypt, so they transformed and scanned the area.

"First ones here." Kickback noticed.

"No locator beacon. Which means the relic is still buried. Right about…there." Flamewar said checking the tracker device, which pointed to some ruins.

At the same time, Optimus was working with the forge.

"The Forge of Solus Prime possesses the ability to create anything from raw material." Ultra Magnus said.

"And in this case, said raw material would be a big hunk of dark energon." Ratchet observed.

"And out of curiosity, what is he building?" Smokescreen asked.

"Something with which he can match the Star Saber's power." Elita answered.

As they entered the ruins, Flamewar decided to talk a little about something important with her partner.

"Uh, Kickback. I heard that you're starting to get along with Airachnid. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Tell her that I owe her an apology. I never meant to endanger Jack. Humans squished easily, I get that now."

Kickback stopped and turned to Flamewar. "I spoke with her about that, and this is what she told me: this isn't just about Jack. The team can't afford any casualties, human or Con. She already lost one season partner, she don't need a rookie in her score card. Well, that's what she said."

"Not gonna happen. I know what to do: one day I will do something that she will be grateful for, because I have given her my word." Flamewar said before she followed him. "Wait! She lost one partner?"

"You'll have to ask her by yourself."

The two Decepticons got inside the ruin's temple. Aboard the Ark, Optimus was finishing his project when Blaster walked to him and showed him a location.

"You have decoded the next set of Iacon coordinates during my absence? Excellent work, Blaster." Optimus congratulated.

Inside the temple, the Decepticons were walking down the narrow tombs. Flamewar held a flashlight to lighten their way.

"Heh, nice for the humans to pile all these rocks on top of our relic, huh?" Kickback said.

Finally the device located where the signal was stronger: just where was a hieroglyph bout two humans praising to what was the Omega key.

"Pretty much spells thing up, doesn't it?" Kickback asked.

"Come on. Help me move this." Flamewar asked.

They pulled the wall and they found inside the Omega key.

"The ancient humans must've thought the Omega key was a gift from the gods." Kickback remarked.

"And in a sense…they weren't wrong." Flamewar replied.

But when they were reaching to the exit they noticed someone standing a distance. When they exited the ruins, they saw that it was Optimus Prime.

"The relic. Now." Optimus demanded.

"Two against one. We can take it." Kickback said.

Optimus pulled out from his back a purple sword which irradiated a dark aura, surely similar to dark energon.

"Soundwave, ground bridge! Now!" Flamewar demanded by com-link.

Optimus spun and with a swing unleashed a wave of dark energy. The wave hit the ground in front of the Decepticons, but it was powerful enough to launch them in the sky. They crashed to the sand and the Omega key landed between them. Kickback was the first to recover, and charged at Optimus firing all his guns, but Optimus deflected all the shots. Flamewar started to fire at him too, but then he sent another wave of dark energy, one which caught Kickback. It sent him all the way to the pyramid and when it hit the structure he vanished by a powerful blow from the wave.

"Kickback!" She shouted.

Believing him gone, Flamewar turned around and lowered her head. Meanwhile Optimus took the key.

"What manner of treasure did Iacon send us this time?" Optimus asked before he placed the sword on Flamewar's neck. "I would slice you in two right now, but I need you to deliver a message." He said removing the sword as the ground bridge appeared. "Tell Megatron that if he wants this relic, he must come and claim it himself."

Optimus tossed the key to the sand and allow Flamewar to return to base. There she explained everything what happened.

"And then Kickback was just…gone. Like he turned to dust." Flamewar told.

"Poor bug." Breakdown said sad.

"Flamewar, don't blame yourself. It could just as easily been you." Airachnid said trying to calm her down, because she knew what she was passing through.

Then surprisingly Shockwave prepared his cannon. "This is the last time Optimus Prime takes one of our brothers!"

"Well I say we go claim a piece of Prime's miserable metal hide!" Knock Out proposed mad pulling out his guns.

"( **Right behind you, pal.** )" Stinger added activating his guns.

"No. We've already lost another one of our own today. I will not risk more lives. Given what Flamewar witnessed, it stands to reason that Optimus now possess might to equal the Star Saber. Which means only I have a chance of recovering the Omega key." Megatron said.

"The fate of Cybertron rests on its retrieval." Starscream said.

"Whether Optimus knows it or not." Shockwave added.

Megatron emerged from the ground bridge carrying with him the Star Saber on his back. He found the Omega key in the center of the ruins.

"Claim your prize, Megatron. If you can." Optimus said walking towards him.

When he saw Optimus's hand Megatron couldn't believe it. "By the Allspark, Optimus! What have you done?!"

"This?" Optimus flashed his arm, still leaking energon. "I just only made what was necessary to regain the power that I thought lost. And now I'm able to use some things from my ancestors, like the Forge of Solus Prime." Next Optimus showed his new powerful weapon. "And this is my first creation. Fashioned from the very blood of Unicron. I call it the Dark Star Saber. The main weapon of the new Prime generation if you will."

Optimus let out a battle cry and activated his battle mask as he charged for Megatron. Megatron pulled out the Star Saber and charged too. Optimus launched a wave of dark energy, but Megatron jumped over it at the last moment. Next he launched a wave of light energy, but Optimus sliced it in half with the Dark Star Saber. He sent another wave that Megatron sliced, but he quickly sent another one. Megatron jumped over a broken wall and jumped as the wave destroyed the wall. He prepared the Star Saber to strike, but Optimus blocked the attack with his own saber. When the swords clashed they unleashed a sphere of mixed energy. They clashed their swords three times more until they held their positions in the fourth.

"At last we take our rightful places, Megatron: as gods, wielding the power of the cosmos." Optimus proclaimed before he grabbed Megatron by the throat and held him against a ruin wall.

"I am but a soldier, Optimus, and you are a prisoner of your own twisted delusions." Megatron declared before he knocked Optimus back with a small strike from the Star Saber.

Optimus unleashed another wave of energy. Fortunately Megatron rolled to the left in time, because the wave sliced one of the pyramids in half. They clashed their saber three times more, but Optimus managed to make a cut on Megatron's right arm.

"My Dark Star Saber has tasted one spark tonight. It still thirsts for that of yours!" Optimus said.

They clashed the sabers again, but Optimus jabbed Megatron to his feet. After Megatron recovered they were about to clash the swords one more time, but this time the Star Saber shattered upon clashing with the Dark Star Saber. After the remaining pieces turned into dust, Megatron fell to his knees defeated, as Optimus put his saber over Megatron's neck.

"What a shame. Did you want to know how this happened? It is because the Star Saber wasn't in the hands of a true Prime. It has lost its true potential, and it's your entire fault! But my Dark Star Saber is superior, and it recognizes me as its true master, a true Prime. And so it ends. Just as I envisioned, with your head beside my new trophy." Optimus said before he raised his saber ready to finish Megatron.

"Oh, you mean this?" A voice called, and Optimus turned to see Kickback alive, holding the Omega key with his back's claws and his arms crossed. "Finders keepers."

With Optimus distracted, Megatron took the chance and grabbed his opponent before cutting him with the edge of the Star Saber. Kickback charged for them.

"Kickback, fall back!" Megatron ordered.

Optimus sent another wave, but Kickback jumped to the right to avoid it. Megatron pinned Optimus to the ground, but he got one of his arms free and hit Megatron on the face. Optimus took the chance to send another wave, but before it hit Megatron Kickback pressed against him and the wave went through them.

"Soundwave, ground bridge!" Megatron ordered.

"No!" Optimus yelled in rage.

"Missed us." Kickback mocked as the ground bridge appeared behind them.

Kickback and Megatron ran for it as Optimus roared in anger and unleashed another big wave towards them, but they escaped in time. Nevertheless, Optimus laughed sinisterly.

"Run, Megatron, run! Those trinkets of Iacon will not save you. Not when I now possess the power to tear this world apart!" Optimus shouted victorious as he raised the Dark Star Saber, making it to send some lighting to the sky.

Everyone saw coming Megatron, with went with Knock to receive medical attention, but they were surprised to see Kickback safe and sound.

"Kickback?!" Breakdown shouted.

"And Omega key number 1!" Kickback said as he showed them the key.

"But…how?" Flamewar started in disbelief. "I mean I saw you…"

"I, uh, decided to borrow the phase shifter." Kickback revealed showing his wrist.

"Again?!" Starscream shouted annoyed.

"Good thing too. The wave from the blast hit me like a wrecking ball." Kickback started.

In Kickback's flashback he did not died in the blast, but instead he passed through the rock and went inside the ruins' temple, but he went unconscious. After a while he recovered and noticed the shifter was on.

"The impact must have activated the shifter. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I made my way back outside, Optimus and Megatron were deep in an epic throw-down." Kickback told has the flashback showed him seeing the duel and the Omega key near to him.

"I waited for the right moment to make my move." Kickback concluded.

"You're learning." Airachnid said.

"So can I keep it, Shockwave? I mean it is really working out for me." Kickback asked.

"You can keep it." Shockwave authorized.

"What? Why are you going to give a relic like that to an Insecticon?" Starscream asked in disbelief.

"Kickback has shown to be able to learn and to fit with the normal statistics of our team. So I think he has earned a fair reward." Shockwave explained.

"Yes! Signature weapon!" Kickback yelled happy, until he saw the Star Saber broken on a crate.

"You got yours, Megatron lost his." Knock Out said sadly.

"The balance of power shifted again." Flamewar added.

"While he might have wielded the power of the ancients for only one day, Megatron does not require it to be the mightiest of warriors." Starscream reminded as everyone saw Megatron supervising Soundwave decoding the remaining Iacon coordinates.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter Forty Seven- Keys Search**

Blaster was helping Optimus decoding the next Iacon coordinates as his leader laughed talking with the others.

"So your first experience with that sword has been very enriching, isn't it sir?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"You should have seen Megatron's face when the Star Saber shattered like glass on his worthless hands, and with it his dreams of a Decepticon victory." Optimus boasted.

"I'm glad you're in a better mood." Elita smiled.

"Granted, Megatron will be more determined than ever to discover the locations of the remaining Iacon entries before we can." Ratchet remembered.

In that moment, Blaster unlocked the next set of coordinates.

"Ah, very good. I see you have decoded the next set of coordinates." Optimus observed.

"Way to step things up, Blaster." Bumblebee congratulated putting a hand on his shoulder. "I do hope this Iacon relic is something less sacred than more profane."

"Like an electro disrupter cannon. We could use one of those." Wheeljack suggested.

"Indeed, Wheeljack." Optimus affirmed. "Ultra Magnus, assemble all the Wreckers."

"Understood."

"Please, lord Optimus Prime. Allow me the honor of retrieving this relic for you." Smokescreen offered himself as he entered the bridge.

"You?!" Cliffjumper asked in disbelief.

"Really, Smokescreen?!" Ratchet followed.

"What?! Any problem with that?!" Smokey asked annoyed.

"Do not take it wrong, Smokescreen. It's just that we're surprised that you would risk yourself doing this task alone." Arcee explained trying to calm him down.

"None the less I remain unconvinced that you are the best choice for the task. Since you failed to secure the phase shifter." Elita remarked.

"That was because I wasn't alone, besides we lacked the proper tools. But since Blaster is currently occupied I can't imagine he'll mind if I borrow this." Smokescreen reassured showing the resonance blaster in his hand. "So that I might better secure your prize and heap some hurt on the Decepticons."

That made Optimus to reconsider his choice. "Very well. I will give you a chance, only one. Take advantage of it, and if you are victorious there will be no lack of reward."

On the Decepticon base, Megatron was helping Soundwave to decode the next Iacon entry, while Kickback was observing him.

"I'm gonna be a great warrior someday. Like Megatron." Kickback said.

"Well, you're already a strong creature being an Alpha Insecticon." Knock Out pointed.

"Nonetheless, train hard and gain some wisdom along the way and I'm sure it'll happen." Breakdown added.

"Oh, it will. It's my destiny." Kickback answered.

"( **No doubt he thinks he's special.** )" Stinger said.

"How so?" Flamewar asked.

"Well, at the beginning I'm recruited alongside my hive by Shockwave to fight for the Decepticon cause, next I survived to one of the most dangerous Autobots that have existed, and finally I wake up on other part of the universe to find myself under lord Megatron's command. I mean, what are the chances, right? Things happen for a reason." Kickback replied.

"We get it, Kickback. You're special, we're lucky to have you." Airachnid said giving up.

"All I'm saying is I've come a long way and this is one opportunity I don't plan on messing up." Kickback said.

"Decepticons, the next Iacon coordinates have been decoded. Soundwave, ready the ground bridge." Megatron instructed, so Soundwave prepared the portal.

"Last one to the Omega keys has to scrub the energon tanks for a week." Kickback challenged as he ran to the ground bridge.

"Didn't know we were keeping score." Flamewar said.

"Airachnid, Stinger, Knock Out, prepare to rise up. Starscream, Shockwave, I'll need you in case of setbacks." Megatron ordered.

"( **Yes! I'm already checked and ready to go.** )" Stinger said.

"Wait! What about me?" Kickback asked.

"Ahem." Breakdown coughed.

"I mean me, Breakdown and Flamewar."

"The three of you will remain here in the event we were able to decode a subsequent database entry before the others return." Megatron explained.

"Megatron is right. Considering the very fate of Cybertron is at stake, response time is critical." Starscream supported before Soundwave opened the ground bridge.

"Keep your wings clean, bug. Come on guys, destiny awaits." Knock Out declared.

"( **You said it, Knock Out.** )" Stinger added before the three Decepticons transformed and went through the portal.

Breakdown went with Kickback once he noticed his face of disappointment. "We call it a pit stop." He said before he slapped him hard in the back.

"Don't worry pal, we'll get back in the race." Flamewar cheered.

The portal transported them to a lake's shore. Once they arrived they returned to robot form and began to look around the area.

"Over there." Airachnid said as she spotted the key with its compartment on the top of a rock.

"Well, well." Smokescreen said coming out from behind the rocks. "Just the Decepticons I wanted to see. And I see although Shockwave it's not here you brought Knock Out with you."

"I'll handle the mad rookie. You two grab the key." Airachnid instructed.

"Stinger, let's split!" Knock Out advised.

"( **You got it.** )" Stinger nodded.

"I've been waiting to thank you both two, for all the memories." Smokescreen said before he activated and fired the resonance blaster.

The sound beam hit Airachnid very hard, knocking her down. The next one was Knock Out, who was launched to the other side of the area. Next the beam pinned Stinger to the rock wall. As he tried to fight back the sound beam, Smokescreen intensified the beam, causing that Stinger's finish cracked. Just then Knock Out tried to hit Smokescreen in vehicle form, but the Autobot turned the beam to him, pushing him back to the wall.

"You know, who knew that sound waves could be such a knock out? Is not that how you would say it, Knock Out?" Smokescreen said.

"Urg, this cannot be good for my paintjob." Knock Out groaned in pain.

Airachnid tried to stop him, but he noticed her and fired the beam at her, making her scream in pain.

"What's that, spider lady? I can't hear you!" Smokescreen mocked.

"Guys, the relic!" She yelled.

"( **Right, I got it.** )" Stinger said as he recovered slowly and headed for the relic.

"Airachnid, go underground. He can't aim you there!" Knock Out suggested as he went by the other side.

Airachnid nodded and started to dig a hole in the ground.

"Scrap." Smokescreen cursed before he looked to the resonance blaster and an idea came to his mind. "Hum, how long can it go?"

He aimed the resonance blaster to the ground and fired, generating some big sound waves on the ground that took Airachnid out of the ground and knocked the three Decepticons.

"A soft whooper or a death charge?" Smokescreen smirked.

Moments later when the dust disappeared, Knock Out pushed the rocks away, breaking free.

"Uf, what an experience." He said a little dizzy. "Guys, are you there?"

Airachnid and Stinger broke free too, very hurt but fortunately Smokescreen was gone. Airachnid approached the relic's capsule, already empty.

"Scrap." Airachnid cursed.

Smokescreen returned back to the Ark and showed the Omega key.

"Hmm, it appears identical to the one taken from me by Megatron." Optimus observed.

"Ah, perhaps it is a decoy the Decepticons allowed you to cease as a means of sabotage." Bumblebee suggested.

"Unlikely, my liege. They battle too desperately for it, even they outnumbered me." Smokescreen told.

"Then you have proven yourself worthy, Smokescreen." Elita congratulated.

"As I promised, you now will be Ultra Magnus right hand, as well Ratchet's main assistance." Optimus declared.

"Yes! Range upgrade." Smokey yelled happy.

"Then these may be pieces of a large puzzle perhaps." Ratchet said analyzing the relic.

Then everyone saw that Blaster decoded the other set of coordinates.

"Excellent, Blaster. With any luck these new coordinates will shed some light on the subject." Optimus said.

"Well, now if you excuse me it's my time to shine." Cliffjumper said as he prepared for departure. "Let's go partner."

"Not so fast. You're not going anywhere without authority." Elita stopped.

"What? But we want to show that we are equally useful as Smokescreen!" Cliff protested.

"This is not a competition where everyone can have a moment to boast. When we saw a chance for you to act you would have it." Elita explained.

"Ratchet, you must analyze our latest acquisition. I must know what this relic is and what it can do." Optimus said.

Back to the Decepticon base, Knock Out was repairing Stinger in the medical chamber besides he was still injured, while Airachnid waited.

"I'm sorry Megatron. Smokescreen was there, waiting for us." Airachnid reported.

"Seems the Bots are improving their decoding skills." Starscream said.

"And it seems that with two keys already separated, no one currently possesses the means to revive Cybertron." Shockwave added.

"While our quest to restore our planet may have reached a stalemate, securing the remaining keys is still the most prudent course of action." Megatron instructed.

"Man, it must have been crazy with Smokescreen going all sonic." Kickback said. "Oh, I wish I'd been there. I would have…"

"Would have what? Recover the key like you did the first one?" Airachnid interrupted a little mad while Knock Out started examining her.

"Maybe. Who knows?" Flamewar said.

"I just want us to be firing on all cylinders. You know, now that the Star Saber's gone. I have a pretty good track record so far." Kickback continued.

Airachnid scoffed and limped away.

"Look Kickback, Airachnid, Knock Out and Stinger are no slouches and Megatron managed just fine for eons without the big sword. Of course, you wouldn't know about that, you've been locked in space since we've been fighting this war." Shockwave said.

"Exactly! And I'm ready to make up for lost time!" Kickback shouted.

"Well things are not like you think! Even I wasn't second in command when I first joined the Decepticons. I earned that post by proving myself, both in good and bad times, not alone but with everyone. As a unit." Starscream explained.

"You'll act when Megatron says you're ready! You got to be in this for the long haul. Slow and steady wins the race." Breakdown added.

"Well said, pal. Now Shockwave, I'll need you to check me once I'm finish examining the others." Knock Out said holding where the pain was stronger.

Meanwhile, inside the Harbinger, Grimlock was waiting as the red energon was being processed, but it seems it was going slowly.

"Grr! Hurry up already!" Grimlock shouted impatient as another drop dripping in the container. "How is it possible that speed enhancing energon takes longer to process than regular energon?"

Then the machined beeped, signaling the process' end. Grimlock took the container and saw that it was only a quarter full.

"An entire chunk of red energon and this is all I get?! There's enough here for one dose! Maybe two!" Grimlock roared.

Then the monitor beeped, catching Grimlock's attention.

"Autobot movement." Grimlock observed. "While speed is hardly a suitable replacement for the might of the Apex Armor, it should provide me with enough of an edge to use some of my primitive might again and obtain a more formidable relic."

Back to the Decepticons…

"Lord Megatron, the next coordinates are ready." Soundwave reported.

"There remains one set left to decode. Take care of that Soundwave, I'll manage the ground bridge." Starscream said as he readied the ground bridge.

"Team 2, prepare for departure." Megatron instructed.

"On it, leader." Flamewar nodded.

"I'm gonna bring back that key." Kickback said following their partners, but he calmed down when he saw Airachnid staring at him.

"Uh, Breaky." Airachnid called. "Forgetting something." She said holding the tracking device.

Breakdown laughed nervously getting back for it, but when he grabbed it Airachnid came closer.

"Make sure you keep an eye on destiny's pals, specially our Insecticon, okay? It is obvious that I still need more time yet to calm him with my hive mind connection." Airachnid whispered.

"Ha, compared to watching Miko? Piece of cake." Breakdown reassured before he joined the others and went through the portal.

The portal took the trio to a forest where the leaves were already falling because of autumn. The Decepticons ready their weapons.

"Stay close, stay focus." Breakdown instructed.

"Gotcha." Kickback affirmed.

"I mean it." Breakdown repeated.

"Me too." Kickback nodded.

"Shush." Flamewar whispered as she heard a beeping noise. "What is that?"

Then they heard a rustle from the hill top above them, and saw Wheeljack emerging from between the trees.

"One of the last sounds that you will ever hear." He said.

"Wheeljack." Breakdown cursed.

The Wrecker transformed into his car mode and drove down at them, but the Decepticons dodged as Wheeljack narrowly missed them after disappearing in the forest. When Flamewar got up she heard the beeping noise going faster. And she saw a bomb attached to a tree in front of her, and many more around them.

"Guys! We gotta get out of here, now!" She shouted grabbing both partners.

They ran through the forest with many explosions around them, jumping fallen trees and evading flying pieces of giant rocks. When they arrived to a ledge they jumped as the final explosion was triggered, while Wheeljack circle around to see the results. The trio rolled down the hill and hit the ground hard. Then Ultra Magnus arrived in vehicle form and transformed, with Bulkhead and Wheeljack next to him.

"Guys, I'll handle the Wreckers. Go get the relic!" Breakdown said as he passed them the device.

"You got it. Let's go, partner!" Flamewar said as they started running.

Ultra Magnus was going to follow them.

"Was wrong, Bulkhead? Too much time with the commander has made you soft?" Breakdown provoked, making Bulkhead to groan mad. "It seems that now you Wreckers love doing your dirty work from a distance, don't cha? Too bad you don't have the ball-bearings to fight up close and personal." Breakdown challenged slamming his fists together.

Bulkhead prepared his wrecking ball, but he was stopped by Ultra Magnus.

"I will handle him; you two go and take care of the other two. I don't think our special support could be a match for the Insecticon." He instructed.

"Got it, chief." Wheeljack nodded.

"Don't worry Breakdown. Maybe I could show you the heads of your former partners." Bulkhead menaced as he left with Wheeljack.

"In this particular case, I will be all too happy to make an exception." Ultra Magnus said before he jumped high in the air against his foe.

Breakdown tried to hit him with his hammer, but in the last moment Magnus pivoted it and sneakily planted a grenade on Breakdown's back. Breakdown swung his hammer again, but Magnus jumped back and slammed his fists on Breakdown's shoulders. Next Breakdown tackled Ultra Magnus to a tree, but the Autobot kicked him in the chest, pushing him before he kicked him again in the face. But Breakdown jumped and hit Magnus in the face, followed by a punch in the torso and a shot from his shoulders' turret. The impact sent Ultra Magnus to a rock, making him to collapse to his knees.

"An admirable effort. But you obviously forgot how our last encounter ended." Ultra Magnus said as he got up and pressed a button on his detonator.

"No, I didn't." Breakdown reassured.

Ultra Magnus heard the beeping noise from the grenade coming from his own back, so he tried to take it off as fast as he could. Once he took it he launched it, but it exploded very near, making that the impact force hit him hard. Once the explosion disappeared Breakdown saw that Ultra Magnus was unconscious.

"Guys, I'm on my way." Breakdown communicated through the com-link.

Flamewar and Kickback were still running through the forest when suddenly a weird noise forced Flamewar to stop. Suddenly she intuited that something was coming toward them, so she hid behind some plants as Kickback advanced a little more.

"Flamewar, was wrong?" He asked confused.

"Kickback, continue without me."

"Why?"

Then a motorcycle drove very fast at him, but Flamewar took the chance and tackled it in his place after she passed him the tracker device. Kickback doubted about her choice, but he decided to continue as she told him. But then he saw Wheeljack landing in front of him.

"Are you going anywhere, bug?" Wheeljack mocked.

"Yes, very far from your stinky breath." Kickback answered as he laughed.

That provoked Wheeljack so much that he made him attack immediately, launching himself with his swords. Fortunately Kickback grabbed his swords and forced him against the ground. Wheeljack got up and tried to attack again, but Kickback grabbed his swords with his back's claws.

"What in the Allspark?" He asked in disbelief.

"Haha, what do you think? It is enough for you?" Kickback mocked with his arms crossed.

Wheeljack tried to continue slicing, but Kickback blocked his attacks continually. After a while, Kickback grabbed Wheeljack's swords with his claws and took the chance to punch him with his fists a lot, until he finished with a powerful kick that sent the Wrecker flying against a rock that knocked him out. Kickback believed that everything was over, but then he saw Bulkhead charging against him from behind and tackled him to the ground. Bulkhead tried to smash his head with his wrecking balls, but the Insecticon managed to dodge every hit until he managed to put in the wrecking balls inside a big trunk with an awesome acrobatic. As Bulkhead tried to take off his weapons, Kickback saw another big trunk next to him, so he grabbed it and hit Bulkhead in the head. That made the Wrecker to fall unconscious, so Kickback took advantage and grabbed him with his hands and claws and put him on top of him.

"Hey! Leave my friend alone!" Wheeljack demanded getting up.

"You want him? Here you got!" Kickback said as he launched Bulkhead against the other Autobot.

"Holy scrap." Wheeljack cursed.

The two Autobots ended unconscious again, so Kickback roared victorious. Meanwhile, in other part of the forest, Flamewar was still dueling with the motorcycle, which it revealed to be Arcee when she transformed.

"I did not expect to find another two-wheeler on this planet. Especially a Decepticon." Arcee confessed.

"So you're Arcee. Airachnid has talked about you a lot. Especially about the way you tried to hurt her, by threatening Jack." Flamewar said mad.

"So you know Airachnid, and so about me."

"Clearly. You're an assassin who tries her best to cause any kind of harm to anyone."

"Then you'll know what's going to happen to you now." Arcee said pulling out her wrist blades.

"Really? I'll teach you what happens when you play with fire, because I know how to do it." Flamewar said as she pulled out her long swords.

The two two-wheelers began a close combat fight, a very long one. They clashed their blades continually, blocking the other's attacks and trying to slice her rival a little. At the end Arcee managed to kick Flamewar because she was getting a little tired. But Flamewar saw that she was close to a mud puddle, because the proximity of a river, which gave her an idea. While she saw Arcee approaching, she started to make a hole with her wrist blade as she fired at the Autobot. When Arcee jumped above her to strike her, she dodged at the last moment, which made her stuck in the mud. She tried to set free, but Arcee was totally stuck, so Flamewar approached her calmed.

"This is for you to remember this always. My…name…is…Flamewar." She said before she kicked her in the face, knocking her out.

In that moment, Breakdown arrived. "Flamewar, do you have the relic?"

"Kickback is already taking care of that." She answered.

Kickback arrived to where the relic was buried; now he was setting aside the rocks until he saw the container, but something passed behind him, probably a reflection. He opened it and the key came out.

"Destiny." He said to himself taking the key.

Suddenly a strange force hit him from behind very hard that sent him flying and hitting the ground very hard, falling unconscious. While he lay on the ground a shadow passed near to him.

"Kickback!" Breakdown called.

"Wake up!" Flamewar said.

Kickback finally came back to himself. "Ugh. What happened?"

"That's what we wanna know." Breakdown said.

"The Omega key!" Kickback yelled as searched around, but there was no sign of the key. "I had it! Until... something hit me from behind."

"Ultra Magnus must have had backup. That relic is long gone." Flamewar deduced before she pressed her com-link. "Commander, we need a bridge."

"I…I told Megatron I would return with that key." Kickback said disappointed before the ground bridge appeared.

"Listen pal, The Fallen said we need all four keys to restore Cybertron, remember? We just need to hang on to the one we have and find a way to get the others back from Prime." Breakdown remembered as they went through the portal.

But they were unaware that Grimlock heard everything they said.

"The promise of a new Cybertron in the palm of my hand, when I obtain all four." Grimlock said holding the Omega key before he used his new hyper-speed and leave the area.

Everyone reported what happened back to base.

"Kickback was sucker pushed. It could happen to any of us." Breakdown explained as he put a hand on Kickback's shoulder.

"But it didn't, because I was the one who dropped his guard. I was the one who blew it. Some great warrior I'm turning out to be."

"You still don't get it, do you? A couple of victories aren't gonna make you a legend, and not every mission results in success. Not for me, not for Stinger, not for Knock Out, not even for Megatron." Airachnid started. "We've gained relics and we've lost some. We've also lost friends, we even lost a world. But this is one time we get a do over. We have a chance to bring back Cybertron and everyone in this room needs to be in sync. This isn't about you or your destiny."

"Airachnid, you've made your point."

"Megatron, he needs to hear this. You might actually become a great warrior one day and I sincerely hope that you do, but greatness begins and ends with putting the team first. Not your personal scorecard." She continued.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you guys!" Kickback defended himself.

"Then stop being a hero and start being a Decepticon." Airachnid finished.

Kickback looked down before he looked for Megatron, who said nothing. "You know what? Maybe I'm just not good enough, because I'm not like you, just another mindless Insecticon!" Kickback expressed before he ran and transformed, flying out of the base.

"What a way to smooth things, Airachnid. You could have been quiet." Flamewar said mad. "Now I understand why Jack does not have so much fun with you."

"What?!" Airachnid asked.

"Surprisingly I agree with her in this situation, Airachnid. Next time Megatron advises you to stop, perhaps you should listen." Starscream supported.

"I'll bring him back." Flamewar offered herself, but Shockwave put his hand in front of him.

"Kickback is a little different from us, Flamewar, and has much to learn. I'm sure he only needs time to clear his thoughts and learn how to see things like we do."

"A wise advice, old friend." Megatron said. "But right now we can't do anything else for him, and we need to finish decoding the final Iacon entry."

Inside the Ark, Blaster was continuing decoding the final Iacon entry instead of Optimus, who was hearing his Autobots' report.

"You never even spied the relic?!" Optimus exclaimed.

"By the time we reached the location it was gone, as were the Decepticons." Ultra Magnus told.

"It would serve us well to only decode the final Iacon entry before Megatron does, but to recapture those relics currently held by the Decepticons." Ratchet suggested.

"Blaster, despite your primary task, I trust that you have been making progress pinpointing the location of their base." Elita said.

Blaster nodded before he showed a live feed of Sundor scouting Jasper's desert's road.

"Good. Given the recent accumulation of evidence, we possess a clear idea where their human colleges reside. Sundor should soon determine if the Decepticons' base is in proximity." Optimus proclaimed.

Meanwhile, inside their base…

"Megatron, good news." Soundwave reported.

"Ah, the final entry has been decoded." Megatron said with a smile.

"Has it?" Starscream asked seeing something more.

Megatron looked to the screen and saw all the codes morphing together.

"Hm, perhaps it's a layer of secondary encryption." Shockwave said.

At the same time, the Autobots were also watching the same thing happening on their screen.

"What's that?" Elita asked.

"The coordinates are forming an image. Why would the final Iacon relic be different from the others?" Optimus asked.

All the Decepticons reunited around the main screen.

"Maybe it's a picture of the relic." Knock Out suggested.

"Of what possible use could that be to us without its location?" Starscream objected.

"I trust that The Fallen had his reasons." Megatron said.

Once the codes finished morphing together and showed the image of a cybertronian, one that no one expected.

"Kickback?!" Breakdown asked surprised.

That was seen in the Ark too.

"Megatron's Insecticon is the final relic of Iacon?!" Optimus said in disbelief.

Back in the base…

"Is this that hot shot's idea of a joke?" Airachnid asked.

"( **What could that possible mean?** )" Stinger asked.

"Maybe he knows where the key is." Breakdown said.

"And never bothered to mention it?" Airachnid said.

"After how did you talk to him, it doesn't surprise me." Flamewar pointed.

"A more likely possibility is that Kickback himself is the key, without knowing it." Knock Out suggested.

"Clearly illogical. I know Kickback better than any of you, I would have realized if he was something like that." Shockwave explained.

"Whatever the case he could be in grave danger. Kickback, return to base immediately." Megatron ordered through his com-link, but no one responded.

"He may have deactivated his com-link." Starscream deduced.

"And all of this thanks to Airachnid." Flamewar pointed.

"Okay, I did wrong! I shouldn't have opened my mouth!" She said before she sighed. "I couldn't help but doing it."

"Locate his position and prepare the ground bridge." Megatron said to Soundwave.

Kickback was flying above the desert's road, without noticing that Sundor was following him. Blaster relayed it to Optimus.

"It seems our side project is already paying off." Optimus smirked. "Ratchet, prepare your lab."

Sundor opened fire at Kickback, so he serpentine and landed before he changed to his robot form. He saw Sundor circle around.

"You picked the wrong day to mess with me, Bot." Kickback said activating his guns.

Then a sonic beam hit him hard, knocking him out. The blast came from the resonance blaster, which was on Blaster's hand. Next a ground bridge appeared and the Decepticons came out with their weapons ready.

"Kickback." Megatron said when he saw Blaster already dragging him through his own ground bridge.

They sprinted to them.

"No!" Breakdown yield when the portal disappeared before they could reach them.

Now not only the last Omega key was gone, but also Kickback.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter Forty Eight- Back to Sender**

When Kickback came back online the first thing he saw was Ratchet standing right next to him.

"Good morning, Insecticon." Ratchet greeted sinisterly.

"What?!" Kickback expressed as he tried to get up, but he saw himself trapped by chains on an operating table.

"If you're looking for your phase shifter, finders keepers." Smokescreen said as she showed that he was the one who was wearing it.

"Enough prattling, Smokescreen." Optimus Prime said entering the room. "Hand me the final Iacon relic, now."

"Yeah, I can't really help you. That's the only one I was packing." Kickback said referring to the phase shifter.

"Blaster." Elita said.

Blaster showed on his screen the codes morphing together.

"You got the wrong guy, chief. That maybe look similar, but Soundwave's the one who can decode the Iacon database." Kickback said.

"Ah, but you misunderstand. The Iacon database was from Autobot origin, and no one is more familiar with it than I." Optimus revealed.

"The final entry has been decoded by us. And according to our findings, it would appear we do indeed have the right guy." Elita continued as Blaster showed Kickback's image.

"The question is what is it that you're still packing?" Ratchet said before he placed an x-ray panel above Kickback, and it revealed that he was carrying an Omega key inside. "Why! Hidden treasure, of course!"

Meanwhile in the Decepticon base, everyone was still debating about the most recent events.

"Kickback must have been taken aboard the Autobot warship." Starscream started.

"Tracing his signal through its shielding will be impossible." Soundwave reported.

"Continuing monitoring all frequencies, Soundwave. Far more than Kickback's fate may be at stake." Megatron instructed.

"I don't get it. How can Kickback be an Omega key?" Breakdown asked confused.

"Perhaps he isn't the key, but its container." Knock Out deduced.

"The other Iacon relics were sent to Earth in pods. Why not this one?" Airachnid asked.

"When our forces stormed Iacon, The Fallen took advantage of the chaos to sneak behind the enemy lines and secure all the relics of the Iacon Hall of Records. But maybe when the Autobots decided to search them for personal use, it might have been too late for The Fallen to launch the final Omega key. Fortunately a few of his memories that Kickback carried with him when he left the sea of rust revealed that my master managed to keep one key with him when he escaped there. And that he managed to introduce it into an ancient high security system that would insure its remoteness from enemy hands and to approach it to any possible ally, before his disappearance." Megatron explained.

"So, Kickback assumed that everything went black because he was hit by Autobots." Flamewar started.

"But The Fallen's trap was the thing which actually turned out the bug's lights." Knock Out finished.

"It stands to reason that my mentor did not want Kickback to know what he was carrying. In the event of capture." Megatron said.

"And with a mobile relic, The Fallen couldn't possible supply fixed coordinates." Shockwave continued.

"So the great Con slipped us a clue instead. Kickback's mug shot!" Breakdown said.

"The Autobots got to Kickback first. I fear they have decoded the same clue." Starscream expressed.

Back to the Ark, the Autobots saw the image of the Omega key inside Kickback on the screen.

"Yet another of these identical relics?" Elita asked.

"It seems that way, dear. Remove it swiftly." Optimus instructed.

"With pleasure." Ratchet said turning his hand into a torch. "I prefer to do this kind of things by my own way. Now Insecticon, stay still, this will not last long. Although it may hurt a little." He smirked.

Ratchet moved his torch closer and closer to Kickback, who constantly flinched. But at the last second…

"Wait doctor!"

"Smokescreen! Why you interrupt my work?"

"Because maybe I can offer a faster and safer alternative." Smokescreen said as he turned on the phase shifter. Next he put his arm through his own arm. "Impressive." He said before stomped on the floor, but didn't fall through. "And intuitive."

"Interesting, proper grounding ensures that its user won't phase through the floor." Ratchet analyzed.

"I said swiftly." Optimus repeated a little impatient.

Smokescreen inserted his hand inside Kickback's torso.

"Get your stinking hand out of my gears." Kickback protested.

"And…gotcha." Smokescreen said pulling out the Omega key from Kickback.

"Tell us the function of these relics." Elita demanded.

"Door stop, shavers, bling? Beats me." Kickback replied.

"Hmph. A pity this little gadget won't allow me to just reach into his brainpan and pluck out the info." Smokey said admiring the shifter.

"Fortunately, we possess a device that can." Ratchet smirked.

At the same time, inside the Harbinger…

"Individually, each one of these so called Omega keys is useless. Yet, possessing even a single one grants me tremendous negotiating power with either Autobots or Decepticons." Grimlock examined. "Still, imagine if I managed to acquire the other three."

Next Grimlock imagined Cybertron restored in his mind.

"I could revive Cybertron and seize the throne as Grimlock the First, supreme overlord and emperor of destruction." Grimlock proclaimed laughing, until he stopped. "Oh, but unlike Prime, I lack the necessary resources to achieve that. No warship, no army! Only my meager laboratory finds, a ground bridge remote control, a single remaining dose of red energon and you, old friend." He said looking at his dead clone. "But I would all too gladly trade this simply to be restored to my former glory and recover my great prehistoric power."

Meanwhile…

"While I am unfamiliar with the lore of these Omega keys, The Fallen knew many secrets. And the ancients possessed technology that has long been lost to what we consider modern science. Whatever their function, this much is certain: we cannot restore Cybertron without all four Omega keys in our possession. The future of our home world depends on it." Megatron told to the other Decepticons, but Optimus was there too listening, so it was not real, but merely a memory that he was seeing inside Kickback's mind by a cortical psychic patch.

The other Autobots were watching it through a video feed before Ratchet went to disconnect Kickback's cable first.

"Thanks for the info." He said disconnecting the cable, waking him up.

Next he went to disconnect Optimus, waking him up too.

"The power to remake Cybertron as I see fit." Optimus remarked.

"Dear, we have not had an opportunity like this for a long time, we cannot miss it." Elita said.

"Indeed. I will pry the other two keys from Megatron's lifeless fingers. We must find the location of the Decepticon base. Patch in and tear apart Kickback's mind if you must." Optimus instructed.

"Me?" Ratchet asked surprised.

"Indeed, old friend. You're the only one who I can trust to realize such difficult task, because you're our best scientist. I will seal this key to the vault which contains the other one while you give the good news."

"Understood." Elita nodded as they went by separated ways.

"Smokescreen, I need to go for a couple of things. You better start preparing everything for the next patch." Ratchet said leaving the lab.

"It seems that it is only you and me now, bug. I'm curious to try this on my own." Smokescreen said as he approached Kickback.

"No! Not again! Stay out of my head!"

Smokescreen chuckled. "No no. You'll only make things worse for yourself."

But when he was really close, Kickback took the chance and activated the phase shifter.

"Worse how?" He smirked.

Kickback managed to phase through his chains trying to recover the phase shifter, but Smokescreen wanted it too, so they were locked in a game of tug-n-war. They continued struggling until they passed through the wall, and Kickback tripped, but he had the phase shifter. Kickback started to laugh when he saw Smokescreen stuck in the wall.

"Well. Aren't you the clever one." Smokescreen said as he tried to break free, but with no use. "Why are you so cheerful? This ship is miles in the sky and swarming with Autobots. Do you really think you can escape?"

Kickback put the shifter in his wrist and activated it. "Who says I'm looking to escape?"

Kickback left, leaving Smokescreen alone trying to get free. After a while passing through walls he finally spotted Optimus Prime, with the Omega key on hand. He deduced that the room in front of him was where the other Omega key was. So he deactivated the shifter and ran towards Optimus.

"Think fast." He said as he grabbed the key and disappeared through the wall.

"What?!" Optimus shouted before he opened the door and saw that the other key was gone too, which made him roar in anger. "Elita, the Insecticon has escaped and has stolen the Omega keys."

She received the message through her com-link. "Turn on the alarm! All troops, search for the Insecticon and recover the keys!"

Immediately three Autobot heavy soldiers blocked Kickback's path, and other three came from behind him, blockading his exit.

"Oh, this isn't the way out?" Kickback asked.

The soldiers fired their guns at him, but surprisingly all the shots went through him thanks to the shifter's effects, killing themselves. Kickback continued his path, even passing through an Insectobot, leaving it confused. Finally he managed to reach the ship's roof, but he saw Elita and Optimus with a lot of Autobot soldiers in front of him.

"The keys." Optimus demanded as the soldiers aimed at him.

He took a couple of steps back before he looked that the ship was in the air.

"So what are you going to do now?" Elita asked.

"Oh, I don't know. How about getting out of here?" Kickback said before he jumped off the ship.

The Autobots went to the ledge of the ship and saw Kickback falling before he transformed and continued flying far from the ship. That was noticed too in the Decepticon base.

"Kickback's signal, it's back online." Soundwave registered.

"He escaped the warship!" Knock Out yelled happy.

In that moment, Kickback tried to contact his comrades.

"Kickback to base. I can really use a ground bridge." Kickback asked while he continued flying in bug form.

"Retrieve the Omega keys! Quickly!" Optimus demanded as he grabbed and threw an Autobot soldier overboard. And next another one.

The first was an Aerobot, so he changed to his alt mode and started chasing Kickback, but the other one was a regular soldier, so when he changed to his car form he could only scream.

"Flyers. I need flyers with me!" Elita shouted, making the remaining Aerobots to jump and transform to join the chase.

Meanwhile…

"Setting coordinates." Shockwave said analyzing Kickback's signal. "Strange."

"What's the problem?" Flamewar asked.

"Kickback's telemetry data doesn't make sense. We can't lock onto his position." Shockwave explained.

In a few moments Kickback noticed that the Aerobot was firing at him, so he secured the keys grabbing them by his secondary pair of legs and speeded up his fall evading the shots. Next, still in his bug form, he activated the phase shifter before he spread all his limbs to slow down and pass through his chaser, so then he blasted the Aerobot in pieces.

"I've isolated the problem. Kickback is in free fall." Starscream reported.

"Kickback, opening the ground bridge directly below you." Soundwave reported him by the com-link before he saw the portal appearing.

Knowing what was going to happen, Kickback turned off the phase shifter. "Brace yourselves. I'm gonna make an entrance."

But suddenly he heard an engine noise above him. He looked up and saw Elita coming in her alt form before she tackled him, pushing him away from the portal.

"He's…off course!" Soundwave saw.

"You missed?" Airachnid asked in disbelief.

"Open another one! Fast!" Breakdown yelled.

But Kickback saw the floor very close, so he looked to the phase shifter and decided to take a chance.

"I hope proper grounding on this doesn't apply to actual ground." Kickback said before he turned on the device.

Kickback speeded up, followed by the Aerobots, toward the ground expecting that somehow he would survive. Surprisingly he passed through the ground, while the Bot simply crashed and exploded, including the Autobot soldier who was falling behind them, except Elita One who dodged it. That was registered in the base too.

"No." Shockwave said, believing that Kickback was gone.

Elita One transformed and landed near the crash site, two Aerobots joined her.

"Scourer the wreckage! I want those keys!" Elita demanded.

While the Autobots registered the wreckage, Kickback passed through a rock wall of a ledge below them.

"Hey Soundwave, I can still really use that ground bridge." Kickback asked by the com-link, making everyone to relieve.

Moments later, Kickback was in the base with the two keys next to him.

"Did I tell you? Destiny. The Fallen knew someone like me will keep it safe." Kickback said proud.

Airachnid sighed in defeat. "Nice work, pal. And, sorry for what I told you before you disappear. I should not have been too hard with you."

Kickback was still a little upset for that, but inside he was glad that she apologized. "Apology accepted. Besides, I think I needed that, after all it is what prompted me to fulfill my duty up there."

Airachnid felt praised, so she and Kickback 'high five' with their claws.

"( **Hold on. One, two. You only found two.** )" Stinger counted.

"It was the only key in Prime's vault." Kickback replied.

"Then three keys are accounted for." Megatron said taking the keys.

"Then the fourth is still somewhere on the Bots warship." Knock Out deduced.

"Unless Optimus never had it to begin with?" Flamewar suggested.

Then the computer showed something, with an image of Grimlock.

"A high frequency signal. With an embedded message." Soundwave reported.

"Grimlock." Breakdown groaned.

"I have obtained something of interest to you which seem to be of no practical use to me." Starscream read.

"It's gotta be the Omega key." Breakdown deduced.

"He's the one who blind-sided me!" Kickback pointed as he roared a little.

"What else can Grim be referring to?" Airachnid asked.

"Wait, there's more. Bring medical kit. I only ask for the surgical replacement of my T-Cog in return." Shockwave finished.

Knock Out laughed. "Like we're gonna give Grim back his jaws."

"Without the missing key, Cybertron will remain devoid of life." Starscream reminded.

"Broken record, I know. But, it could be a trick." Airachnid pointed.

"It is possible Grimlock does not yet realize the significance of what he holds." Megatron said.

"And we do know that he has been incapable of change to his dinosaur form for some time." Shockwave added.

"The stakes are too great for us not to consider Grimlock's proposal. However, we will take precautions." Megatron explained.

The Decepticons opened the ground bridge in a clear area inside a forest, where they were supposed to meet with Grimlock. Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, Breakdown and Knock Out came out while Soundwave, Airachnid, Flamewar and Kickback waited in the base. The Decepticons advanced with their weapons ready until Starscream spotted something.

"There."

Grimlock was sat on a rock a few yards away from them.

"Grimlock, show us the Omega key." Megatron demanded.

But he didn't respond. The Decepticons advanced more near.

"Give it up, Grim." Breakdown said, poking him with his hammer, but his body fell down dead.

"We're too late. The T-Cog won't help him now." Knock Out saw.

But as they started to scan the body, something went through the ground bridge. With hyper speed Grimlock entered the base; he saw that everything went slowly around him.

"It would seem I have the run of the place." Grimlock observed before he approached to Airachnid. "How easy it would be to gut you." He said pointing his finger close to her eye, but he pulled away before looking at the rest of the Decepticons. "To gut all of you, but first things first. Where does Megatron keep his key ring?" He asked as he started to inspect the base, searching the storage areas. "Not here. Nope. No." Then he stopped when he saw where Sandstorm was trapped. "I was wondering what happened to that traitor." He said before he continued searching. "Do they think I have all day?" He groaned, until he found them. "Ah, there you are."

Meanwhile, Shockwave was scanning Grimlock's clone lifeless body.

"Curious. Grimlock's been deceased for quite some time." Shockwave saw.

"Well how's that possible if he just sent us a message?" Knock Out asked.

"Besides, this is not Grimlock's truly form, only his oldest. The last time we faced Grimlock he looked different, more like a knight." Breakdown remembered.

"We have been deceived." Megatron realized.

Grimlock destroyed the door charging with his shield, as he saw the pieces move slowly. The Decepticons felt the impact force.

"What was that?" Flamewar asked.

Suddenly the emergency fire-hose self-activated.

"( **What's going on?** )" Stinger asked.

"Ah! I hate water! And I don't know why!" Kickback yelled.

"Soundwave, close the ground bridge now." Megatron ordered by the com-link.

Soundwave slowly pulled the lever up while Grimlock returned with all the Omega keys in hand.

"Now that I have your trinkets, I'm free to enjoy slitting your…" Grimlock started when he saw Soundwave closing the ground bridge. "But as I appear to be pressed of time."

Grimlock went through the portal before it closed, emerging in front of the other Decepticons.

"Decepticons, maintain positions." Megatron instructed, very slowly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Grimlock asked before he made funny sounds imitating the way he listened Megatron as he passed through them normally. "You Decepticons think you're so superior, but you know what you really are? Slow!"

Then Megatron looked like he heard something behind him and aimed his fusion cannon at Grimlock.

That made Grimlock laughs nervously. "The red energon wore off, didn't it?"

"That's the one! The real Grimlock!" Breakdown recognized.

"And he has the Omega keys!" Starscream noticed.

Grimlock reacted grabbing a big rock and throwing it at them, gaining time to run.

"Come on!" Grimlock groaned as he grabbed his remote to call his ground bridge.

The Decepticons fired all their weapons trying to stop him, but the Dinobot managed to reach the portal before it disappeared in front of the Decepticons.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Megatron roared in anger.

"We'll get them back." Knock Out said, trying to cheer up.

"The keys can be of no use to Grimlock while he scrounges in the wild like some scraplet." Shockwave said.

"There must be something that we can offer him in exchange." Starscream added.

"The fate of Cybertron now rests in Grimlock's hands. Whatever his intentions." Megatron said.

Meanwhile in the Ark, everyone saw what happened to Smokescreen.

"I'm going to take a few instruments and pass this in my absence?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.

"Well, it could be worse. He could get stuck just in the main energon processor." Cliffjumper said, making laugh all the Autobots, except Optimus, Elita, Ratchet and Ultra Magnus.

"Not funny! I beg you, my liege. Release me from this absurd predicament!" Smokescreen begged.

"No. You shall serve as a constant reminder to those who dare fail me." Optimus declared before he and the other leaders left.

"Don't worry Smokey. We'll come to visit you every day." Bulkhead said.

"Besides, we do not want to lose this interesting sight." Bumblebee smirked.

"We cannot allow Megatron to be the one to revive Cybertron." Optimus said nervous.

"Don't worry dear; we have more resources and progress to achieve that." Elita said putting her hand on his cheer. "In the end, we'll locate the Decepticon base, invade it, and retrieve the Omega keys."

"Been there, done that." Everyone heard, and they spotted Grimlock in the bridge, what made Optimus angry. But instead of looking for fighting, he simply bowed. "Please, pardon my unannounced visit, lord Optimus Prime."

Ultra Magnus pulled out his shoulders' turrets and the Forge of Solus Prime, but Optimus stopped him as well Elita stopped Ratchet.

"But I've come bearing… peace offering." Grimlock said showing all four Omega keys.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter Forty Nine- Patch**

It was sunset while the Ark flew through the sky. The four Omega keys laid on the floor of the bridge with Optimus Prime standing before them alongside Ultra Magnus, in front of Grimlock.

"Few things of value come without a price. So tell me, Grimlock, what is it that you wish in return?" Optimus demanded.

"Only to be an Autobot once again." Grimlock answered as he bowed.

"Ultra Magnus, my second in command during the war of Cybertron, is my actual general now." Optimus introduced.

"And I accept that much has changed during my absence. I only wish to serve you, my one true master, in any way that you deem fit." Grimlock said.

"I am deeply impressed by your accomplishment, Grimlock. And know that I will put your offerings to good use, whatever the outcome." Optimus proclaimed.

"Outcome? Of what?" Grimlock asked confused.

"Tell Ratchet to prepare his lab for an urgent intervention." Optimus ordered to Ultra Magnus. "Oh, and see to it that Smokescreen is extracted from the wall."

Moments later in Ratchet's lab, Smokescreen was stretching his limbs.

"Ah, it's good to be back." Smokey expressed.

"Don't get cocky, Smokescreen. And come to give me a hand!" Ratchet yelled as he was putting a cortical psychic patch cord behind Optimus's head. "Now what will we be fishing for today, my liege?"

"Grimlock's true motives." Optimus answered looking at Grimlock, lying on another medical berth next to him.

Grimlock was a little nervous while Smokescreen put the other side of the cord behind is head. Next it looked like it was happening when the Autobot space bridge exploded, while Grimlock was seeing it from the Ark's bridge.

"Autobots, it is with deep sorrow that I note for the log that Optimus's spark has been extinguished. All hail…Grimlock." He proclaimed himself.

"Hail, King Grimlock!" All the troops chanted.

"Well, well. You certainly didn't waste any time." Optimus's voice said, making Grimlock to look everywhere until he saw him next to him.

"What?! Impossible! I just watch you perish!" Grimlock shouted in disbelief.

"I did not perish then, and I'm very much with you now. The present you as well as the past." Optimus smirked.

Grimlock did not understand it until he saw behind himself with the Autobot troopers cheering him.

"Hail, King Grimlock! Long live the king!" The Autobots chanted.

"I can't hear you, girls!" Grimlock shouted.

"Hail, King Grimlock!" The female Autobot troopers chanted.

"One more time!" Grimlock said.

"Hail, King Grimlock! Long live the king!" Everyone chanted.

Ratchet and Smokescreen were watching the whole record on the monitor.

"Hahaha, this guy is truly a showman." Ratchet laughed.

"Indeed." Smokescreen followed. "This is going to be juicy."

Back to the memory, Grimlock started dancing in a funny way as everyone continued cheering him, while the real one saw it.

"Ah, you're inside my head, aren't you?" Grimlock realized.

"The cortical physic patch. You see there are no secrets in here, only your memories. You cannot manipulate their content or modify their outcome. What we see is how it happened." Optimus replied.

Then it appeared a memory when Grimlock was in presence of Megatron.

"If you want to be a true leader, Grimlock, then stray from Optimus's path and lead the Autobots toward peace."

"I only am willing to consider a truce, if you were willing to bow before me, Megatron."

Next when he was mad with Smokescreen after his race incident.

"You have defied my orders yet again!"

"My mistake, general Grimlock."

"It…is…KING!"

Next when he was talking to Slipstream.

"Haven't you heard? I lead the Autobots now."

Back to his mind…

"Now, where did we leave off? Oh yes, hail King Grimlock? A rather obvious motif, Grimlock. You deem yourself more able to lead the Autobots than myself?" Optimus asked.

"No! Not anymore. I have learned from my many failures, master."

Then another flashback appeared, when Grimlock talked to all the Dinobots.

"Esteemed members of my order. You now stand upon the very presences of glory. To show all who are the best warriors ever existed. And meet the destiny which I am truly worthy." Grimlock told in front of everyone raising his sword.

"Dynamic leadership of the Autobots."

Back to his mind…

"That treacherous clone said it, not me!" Grimlock defended.

"It seems you would stop at nothing to disrupt my rule. Including assassination!" Optimus yelled.

"It was his idea, not mine!" Grimlock repeated.

Then another flashback showed when Grimlock was with Sandstorm and the Insectobot.

"With this creature under your control and at our disposal, we might employ it to terminate Optimus Prime… allowing us to rule the Autobots."

In his mind…

"I see no clones here. Was this their idea too?" Optimus asked.

"I don't remember any of this. I must have been half crazed at the time. A victim of energon deficiency." Grimlock invented.

"Tell me why I should welcome back someone who's every waking impulse has been to thwart me, undercut me, overruled me?!"

"Not true! I have always put your well-being before my own." Grimlock responded while they saw the flashback when he pulled out the dark energon sharp from Optimus's chest.

"How does this revolting chapter attending to my well-being?"

"I was simply trying to help. By ridding you of the dark matter polluting your body."

Then it appeared the time when Grimlock was talking to an unconscious Optimus Prime.

"Seems I possess the only thing that would allow you to rise off that slab and walk again, my dearest Optimus Prime."

In his mind…

"I even risked being buried alive for your sparkmate."

Then the scene changed to when Grimlock was holding the cave's top above him.

"I did not abandon you, master. I returned. To save you! Look into my spark, Elita One. My intentions were true."

In his mind…

"Were they, Grimlock?! Were they ever?!" Optimus asked furious. As the image changed to when Grimlock managed to get out of the crumble.

"Well, now who has hit rock bottom? What's that? I'm sorry, I can't hear you beneath all that rubble!" Grimlock said letting out a wicked laugh. "Farewell, Lady Elita One! May you rust in peace!" Grimlock spat and began walking away, but then he stopped himself short. "But she is as strong as Optimus is, and he has survived far worse. If you manage to free yourself, you would blame me for your setback. And there is nowhere that I could possibly escape from your sparkmate's wrath. Or worse yet, your mindless followers will come looking for you, and take credit for your rescue! Credit that could rightfully be mine! Ragh, Optimus!" Grimlock roared to the sky.

Back to his mind, Grimlock had no answer after all that they saw.

"A word of advice? Stop thinking aloud." Optimus advised.

"I don't want to play this game anymore! Take the keys! We'll pretend I was never here."

"No, Grimlock! There are only two possible outcomes based upon what I find here in your twisted little mind. If I do not deem that you're worthy of rejoining the Autobots, you will perish on this very day. And with it, the Dinobots will be extinct."

Meanwhile outside…

"Whoa. Optimus has Grimlock cornered." Smokescreen said impressed.

"Indeed. Smokescreen, I need to check if the energon storage vault is well organized. Keep checking the patch in my place." Ratchet said as he walked outside the lab.

Smokescreen continued watching the recording of Grimlock's inside.

"Isn't extermination rather extreme? I mean, a really good trancing usually straightens me out, doesn't it?" Grimlock asked.

Then many flashbacks showed when Optimus punished Grimlock brutally, even when he returned.

"No, master! NO!"

Back to his mind…

"Why wouldn't you wish to harness my talent for the Autobot cause when I have so much deviousness to offer?" Grimlock suggested.

Then it appeared when he showed Optimus Steve's corpse.

"Consider it a welcome home present."

In his mind…

"See how generous I can be, my liege?"

"When it suits you." Optimus answered.

Then the flashback changed when the Terrorbot Steve attacked.

"That's your plan?! Bring back our dead enemies so they can attack us again?!" Bulkhead asked terrified.

Then it changed when Grimlock finished Steve.

"At other times, you can be quiet insolent!" Optimus said.

"Apologies. It's just that I've gone to so much trouble to terminate a simple Vehicon in the first place."

Then it showed when Optimus finished the Terrorbot.

"Trouble would have been facing him as a right warrior."

"I've always consider my strength and terror might to be my sharpest weapons."

Then it changed when Grimlock faced both Autobots and Decepticons with the Apex Armor.

"Wait…you five are up to something."

Then it showed everything that happened to him next.

"You'll never learn, Grimlock. Your arrogance will trumpet your wits every time."

The next scene was when Grimlock tried to revive Causeway with dark energon in front of the Decepticons.

"You cannot harm me while dark energon flows through my veins. I am invincible!"

Then he lost his arm. Next was when he fired the energon harvester at Breakdown.

""You're a big one. This could take a while."

Then it happened what Breakdown did to him. Next was when he confessed to Airachnid what he did with Steve.

"What?! She's taking credit for scrapping him now too?! That was my doing!"

That made Airachnid to aim her weapons at him, making him scream. Then it changed to when he faced Kickback for the first time.

"Any last words, Kickback?"

And Kickback took the armor from him. Next it changed to when he reunited with Thundertron.

"My T-Cog?"

"Uh, temporary setback. Other Decepticons or Autobots, other T-Cogs. We shall find a replacement soon enough."

"Not soon enough. Now!"

Next it showed when the Star Seekers stole his T-Cog, and he discovered when he couldn't transform.

"Ah! My T-Cog! No!"

Back to his mind…

"You no longer possess the ability to change to your beast form?" Optimus asked impressed.

"Yes, I was going to bring that up and as you might imagine my predicament pains me to no end."

Then the next flashback showed when Grimlock showed his incompetence about transforming.

"I can't change form. Those treacherous Star Seekers stole my T-Cog, leaving me without all my power."

Back to his mind, while it showed when Grimlock was riding on his speeder bike…

"I hope that you might see fit to express your gratitude for the Omega keys by restoring my dino form and my primeval strength with it. After all would I not be more valuable to you with jaws and claws?"

Next appeared a lot of images showing Grimlock changing and making good use of his dinosaur form.

"Oh, I feel myself so powerful with my primal force… I said that aloud, didn't I?"

Next it changed to when he was captured by the Decepticons.

"Elita One tried to extinguish my spark in cold blood! Then all but replace me with that traitorous wretch Arcee! She abandoned me! Let me for scrap! So why not rat them out?"

In his mind…

"No one asked you to leave the Autobot folds." Optimus said.

"I wasn't exactly made to feel welcome at the time."

The next flashback showed when Elita was going to execute him as an example.

"Elita, wait! Give one more chance! I beg of you!"

Back to his mind…

"Despite the fact that I had seen the error of my ways and dedicated my spark to you."

Then the image changed to Grimlock's apology.

"I have gained a clear understanding of my place in this universe, of who I am, of who I was always meant to be. Grimlock: second in command, humble servant to Optimus Prime."

Inside his mind…

"Until the next opportunity arises to subvert me." Optimus pointed.

Then the flashback showed when he talked with Smokescreen alone.

"What news the doctors have about the patient?"

"For what they observed, same old."

"An inglorious fate that he should remain in this vegetative state."

"On the contrary. The doctors have said that Optimus's body might be scrap metal, but his mind is still peculating."

"Keep that to yourself. That blasted Blaster sees and hears everything."

"The eyes and ears of the Autobots."

"Well, as long as their master remains in limbo, so does their cause. The Autobots deserve a strong, alert leader."

"One who would require a loyal second in command."

"A candidate will have to earn that post by making a strong case to said eyes and ears."

"A case for showing mercy, King Grimlock?"

Smokescreen saw that too, so he started to get nervous.

"Uh oh. Does this thing have a fast-forward button? Or better yet erase?!" He said nervous pressing all the buttons.

Then the screen showed that the next scene was when they two tried to convince the others.

"Smokescreen, can you tell us what is the doctors's medical summary to our comrades, for the historical record." Grimlock requested.

"Simply put. They said that unaided, Optimus could remain in this deathless slumber forever." Smokescreen informed.

"Our master would not have wanted to be seen this way. To stand idly by while he remains captive in his own body is not just." Grimlock sighed.

"What?! Are you giving up already?!" Bumblebee said in disbelief.

"That's not true! Optimus's still alive, look at the screen." Elita One said pointing the screen.

"Brainwave activity. Not evidence of consciousness. But merely in an endless dream from which Optimus may never wake." Smokescreen corrected.

"What are you trying to tell us?" Elita One asked.

"Autobots, we must face reality. Optimus Prime is lost to us." Grimlock proclaimed.

"The only honorable option would be to show him mercy." Smokescreen said sadly.

"A simple throw of the switch." Grimlock clarified.

Smokescreen started to get really nervous.

"When Optimus comes out of it he'll do more than just stick me back in that wall. He'll have Grimlock's head and mine!" He yelled scared. But then, when he saw the cord behind Prime's head, an idea came to his mind. "But if I disconnect before a proper power-down, the link is severed and the great Prime will never emerge from Grimlock's head."

Smokescreen started to twist the plug, but suddenly a hand grabbed his own: it was Ultra Magnus.

"Everything okay here, soldier?" He asked.

Smokey twisted the plug back. "Just checking cable integrity."

Meanwhile, inside Grimlock's mind…

"I can't believe that you could influence and convince other loyal Autobots to follow your tricks, like Smokescreen. Is it any wonder that I've come to value loyalty above all else?" Optimus asked.

"Well, you know we are Autobots. I'm sure than even your beloved Ultra Magnus isn't perfect."

"No one is perfect, Grimlock. But like his sparkmate, Ultra Magnus understands loyalty and honor."

Then the flashback showed when Grimlock awakened Causeway from her slumber.

"Awaken, warrior. Rise and serve your new master." Grimlock said when the last door opened.

"Causeway serves only one master!" She bellowed with determination.

"You see? Her loyalty and devotion will set a fine example for the troops." Bumblebee explained to Grimlock.

"Impressive. No need to be timid, Causeway, you may bow." Grimllock said.

She started to laugh. "You fail to grasp my meaning, Dinobot. I am here on a mission, assigned to me by my true master, Optimus Prime." Causeway expressed.

"Yes, him. Sadly he's no longer with us." Grimlock answered.

"What? That is impossible." She responded.

"You knew Optimus?" Bee asked.

"Of course. I was one of his most experienced students, the best warriors trained by himself, his elite." Causeway said.

"Clearly she can help us in this moment of need." Bumblebee added.

"No!" Grimlock shouted. "Why is this so difficult for everyone to accept?"

Next it showed all what happened that caused her demise. Followed by when Grimlock returned holding dark energon.

"Ah, the gravesite of the mighty Causeway. So quick to reject my authority while you lived. But as the first of my reanimated warriors, you shall bow to my command." Grimlock announced as he broke the shard in two and threw one part into the grave.

It fell into one of the cracks and began to glow. Then he stabbed himself with the other half of the shard.

"Yes! Power of dark energon, be mine! Grimlock smirked as he was glowing purple flames. "Symbiosis! I can feel it!"

Back to his mind…

"I understand she perished that day." Optimus said.

"Well, Causeway is neither living or dead and no doubt continues to wonder through some dimensional neither-realm in search of her missing limb." Grimlock explained.

"It would be wise to keep that to yourself around the warship." Optimus advised.

But Ultra Magnus saw everything, which made him angry. Thing that Smokescreen witnessed.

"Awkward." He mumbled.

But Grimlock seemed surprised.

"Does this mean?" He started.

"Yes, I will allow you to return to our ranks. If only because you are more valuable beside me than against me. Besides, laying aside your previous mistakes, you're the most powerful fighter that the Autobots have ever had, both as a warrior and as a beast."

"Ah, thanks the Allspark!" Grimlock yelled happy.

"Inviting has nearly destroyed the Autobot ranks during your absence. We must operate as a united front if we are to revive and conquer Cybertron. That means each and every one of us, Smokescreen." Optimus said to the screen, making Smokescreen to get a chill.

"Primes sure know how to patch things up, no sir…?" Smokescreen started, but then he saw that Ultra Magnus was gone. "Sir?"

Ultra Magnus was outside, on the top of the warship while it started to rain.

"Causeway." He said with his head down, before he let a roar of rage into the air.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter Fifty- Return to Cybertron**

Everyone was inside the Decepticon base, even the kids.

"You know, I might not be the first human on Cybertron, but I can still be the first human exchange student." Miko proposed.

"Why didn't you tell us about the Omega keys before?" Jack asked.

"You probably didn't notice, but things have been kind of intense around here lately." Airachnid answered.

"So you guys can really be going home soon, huh?" Raf asked.

"Don't worry, Raf. You'll come visit. Once we get our place set up, he can bunk with us, right Breaky?"

"Uh, Miko…" Breakdown started with a disappointed look.

"You are taking me with you, right?" She asked.

"Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves here?" Starscream started. "Not only do we lack any method of reaching Cybertron, but Grimlock now controls the sole means of our planet's restoration."

"As far as we know." Megatron finished.

"You think Grimlock has rejoined the Bots?" Kickback asked.

"He might have used the Omega keys to buy back Prime's favor." Flamewar deduced.

Knock Out scoffed. "Without first trying to sell them to the highest bidder, that wouldn't surprise me if he had the nerve to contact us and…"

Suddenly the computer beeped as the same way like when Grimlock sent his own messages.

"Okay, that's weird." Breakdown said.

"Is it Grimlock?" Starscream asked.

"Negative. It is Ultra Magnus." Soundwave answered.

"What?!" Everyone said in disbelief.

Shockwave read the remaining part of the message. "And he wants to meet."

The message's coordinates took the Decepticons to a mountain. They came out in vehicle form and immediately transformed with their weapons ready.

"Drop your weapon!" Starscream ordered.

"Hands where we can see them!" Flamewar added.

"And don't try any tricks!" Knock Out added.

Everyone aimed to Ultra Magnus, who emerged from a fog in front of him.

"I am not here to fight, but to give you this." He said as he pulled out his big hammer and placed it on the ground.

"The Forge of Solus Prime?" Airachnid saw.

"It could be rigged to blow." Breakdown deduced.

"Ultra Magnus, what do you ask in return?" Megatron asked.

"Only that you use it wisely." He replied.

"And the Omega keys?" Flamewar asked.

"In Prime's possession. Under heavy escort." Ultra Magnus answered.

"Grim did make a deal with the Bots." Knock Out said.

"Why?" Megatron asked deactivating his cannon.

"A shadow of disgrace has been cast upon the Autobots. It is a cause I no longer wish to be a part of." Ultra Magnus explained.

"Then I appeal to you again. Join us and help end this conflict once and for all." Megatron offered.

"Betraying my kind is not the same as accepting yours." Ultra Magnus responded with his head down as he turned back and transformed, driving away.

After the Decepticon saw the Autobot getting away, they took the forge back to their base. Megatron activated it as he hold it.

"It's not Star Saber, but I bet it can shatter Optimus Prime's blade, and put some dents into that ugly mug of his." Kickback said.

"It's not that kind of hammer." Airachnid corrected.

"With the Autobots in possession of all four Omega keys, a more appropriate use of the forge would be to use it replicate our own." Shockwave suggested.

"Even with such power their reconstruction would require a level of expertise I do not possess." Megatron said.

"I guess we better hope Prime doesn't destroy the keys to prevent anyone from never going home." Flamewar said.

"Optimus maybe evil, but I believe he will use the keys for their intended purpose." Megatron said.

"Well I say we let him keep them and do all the work for us." Breakdown suggested, making that everyone looked at him. "Well I mean, what difference does it make who restores Cybertron?"

"If Optimus revives Cybertron, he will no doubt use it to his Prime position advantage." Megatron pointed.

"Uh uh…you lost me." Breakdown said.

"In all likelihood, the last of the Primes will portray himself as our planet's savior and brand all Decepticons as war criminals." Megatron explained.

"The grand deception continues." Knock Out said.

"Optimus's so called achievement could influence Cybertron for eons to come: poisoning the sparks and minds of its returning citizens." Shockwave pointed.

"Continuing the dynasty of the evil Primes for the next generations." Soundwave added.

"Hardly the ideal way to begin a new age." Starscream said.

"But there is hope. For while Optimus may have the keys, he has yet to discover the existence of the Omega Lock itself." Megatron continued.

"Omega Lock?" Kickback asked.

"Wait, now you lost me." Airachnid said.

"That which the four relics were designed to activate. We must locate the device before Optimus does and secure it until we can recover the Omega keys." Megatron explained.

"There are no more Iacon entries to decode. This lock could be anywhere on Earth." Starscream said.

"Actually…it is on Cybertron." Megatron answered.

"What?" The whole team asked in disbelief.

"How do you know?" Knock Out asked.

"The Fallen reveled its location to me during the message convey by the Star Saber." Megatron responded while he hoped the forge on his shoulders.

"And you didn't think to tell us?" Starscream asked disappointed.

"The Fallen did not wish it so." Megatron answered as he walked to the ground bridge. "With the Forge of Solus Prime we now possess the means of reaching Cybertron. I must work quickly as our tactical advantage over Optimus will not last long."

Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus was already aboard the Ark. Now he was walking through the corridors, until someone called him from behind.

"Ultra Magnus, I have been searching for you."

Ultra Magnus was a little displeased, but decided to answer. "I am at your service, lord Optimus Prime."

"I recognize that Grimlock's return to our ranks might be… difficult for you. Given the loss of your sparkmate under his command, but your cooperation is essential. We Autobots will best be equipped to rule a restored Cybertron only if we are united."

"Understood. And if it pleases you, master, I intend to reach out to our comrade…personally." Ultra Magnus said.

Meanwhile, in the medical lab Grimlock was unconscious, but he was already waking up.

"Wake up, Grimlock." Ratchet called, waking him up. "Your T-Cog transplant was a success."

"Yes. Ratchet's just that good."

"Oh, don't be so exaggerated, Smokescreen."

"Oh yes, our Alpha Dinobot is back." Smokescreen congratulated.

"Finally, I can't wait to roar again to the sky and showing my power."

"Grimlock!" Ultra Magnus shouted from the entrance. "I regret to inform you that you'll not live to enjoy your jaws ever again." He said charging his shoulders' turrets.

Ultra Magnus fired at Grimlock, but the shot missed his head. Next the Dinobot ran to a corner while Ratchet and Smokescreen went near the exit.

"Ratchet, Smokescreen, help me!" Grimlock yelled.

"What's wrong with him? The commander is not acting normally." Smokescreen observed.

"Smokescreen, go and report Optimus Prime. I'll try to reason with him." Ratchet instructed.

Smokescreen ran outside the lab while Ultra Magnus advanced towards Grimlock with a replica very similar to the Forge of Solus Prime in hand.

"Ultra Magnus, what has gotten into you?!" Ratchet said pulling out his blades.

"Get out of my way, doctor. This is between him and me." Ultra Magnus said grabbing Ratchet and stepping him aside.

Ultra Magnus tried to hit Grimlock, but he pulled out his shield and managed to block him at time.

"No! Wait! This is about Causeway, isn't it? I thought we had put that behind us!" Grimlock realized.

"Did you really think it would be so easy for me to forget what made me lose my sparkmate? Never!" Ultra Magnus yelled as he took another swing, which Grimlock blocked it. However he was cornered.

"Casualties are an unfortunate consequence of war, but I assure you your sparkmate met her end with great honor!" Grimlock said trying to calm him down.

"Which you disgraced! By raising her from the dead!" Ultra Magnus shouted.

"Oh, you know about that." Grimlock groaned before he continue blocking Ultra Magnus attacks, but finally Ultra Magnus managed to force him to let go of his shield. "Please, wait! There must be something I can do! Some form of reparation I can offer to alleviate your anguish!"

"Your spark will suffice!" Ultra Magnus said as he prepared his hammer to the final strike.

"MAGNUS!" A voice called from the entrance: it was Optimus, who arrived alongside Smokescreen. "Stand down!"

"This monster must pay for his actions!" Ultra Magnus protested.

"I do not want to intrude but you really call this loyalty, master?" Smokescreen asked.

"Urg, I certainly not." Ratchet said a little dizzy.

"Not me either." Grimlock added.

"Did not you listen to me when I explained all this? You must let go of the pain of the past, forget all that. Now stand down! That is an order." Optimus demanded.

"One which I cannot follow." Ultra Magnus answered.

He was going to strike Grimlock with the hammer, but before he could he felt an agonizing pain in his chest. He looked down to see that his spark chamber was destroyed, so he felt dead. Everyone saw that the responsible was the same Optimus Prime, holding a nucleon shock cannon that was fired.

"I'm okay?" Grimlock asked as he saw himself all unscathed, which cheered him up. "I'm okay! Lord Optimus Prime, you have my eternal thanks. And from today, I'll never doubt to obey your every will." He said bowing.

"Do not ever make me regret which one of you I've spared. Because of this I had to eliminate the best second in command I have had. And believe me, it's nothing I'm happy about. So you better start to improve and be as good as he was, or better if you want this chapter to stay behind." Optimus said coldly.

Meanwhile, there was a deep silence in the Decepticon base.

"Is it my imagination or has Megatron been acting differently since that message from The Fallen?" Airachnid noticed.

"( **I noticed that something was being weird too**.)" Stinger said.

"Yeah, he has been keeping things from us." Knock Out agreed.

"Even Soundwave, Shockwave and Starscream are out of the loop." Flamewar pointed.

"Well give me one good reason why Megatron couldn't trust his own teammates. Why he couldn't tell us of the Omega Lock?" Breakdown demanded.

"Because if he had, Prime would have pulled it out of my head with his patch." Kickback answered wisely.

"Like it matters. The Bots are holding the keys anyways." Knock Out said.

Meanwhile, in the Ark's laboratory, the Autobots were trying to figure out what other information the keys contained.

"Tick tock, guys. Tick tock! Optimus Prime's expecting results and given what Ratchet, Grimlock and I just witness, I would say that we cannot afford to disappoint our master. Or we'll end like the commander." Smokescreen told a little nervous.

"I guess you're right, Smokey. I would not want to be in the same situation." Cliffjumper agreed.

"Okay, but exactly how are we going to do it by ourselves? Ratchet is really busy right now." Arcee pointed.

"We will have to give the best of ourselves." Bee supported.

"We? Unless nagging counts, I haven't seen you lift a finger. And you were part of our boss demise." Bulkhead said, referring to Grimlock.

"I am the one who brought him the keys. Do I really need to prove myself further by deciphering on how they operate too? And about that, I was a victim! He looked for it." Grimlock responded.

"Well, perhaps if Ratchet's research hadn't been sideline by someone survival rumble, I might be further along right now!" Wheeljack said as he started examining a key.

"Oh, just give it here!" Grimlock said grabbing his key. He tried to pull it apart; next he began bashing it on the table.

"Ha, why didn't think of that?" Bulkhead teased.

"Then try you something!" Grimlock roared slashing Bulkhead's chest with the key, leaving a ridiculous mark.

"Grimlock, stop! You have already gone far." Arcee warned.

"Then do not stay there still and give me a hand!" Grimlock demanded, pushing her back with strength.

"Okay. That's it!" Cliff said grabbing another key.

"What are you going to do? A key battle?" Bee asked interested.

"Guys, please. We're pals, and there is no time to play. This is serious!"

But they ignored Smokescreen's advice, because both Autobots were going to attack with the keys. But when the keys clashed it mended together, what left the Autobots impressed.

"Whoa. Do you think?"

"Indeed, Smokey. Quick, grab the last one." Wheeljack instructed as he grabbed another.

"Ready? Go." Bumblebee said.

When the four keys mended they showed a hologram. It showed a map of Cybertron and it also had coordinates along with it.

That made Grimlock laugh. "And that is why Ultra Magnus is pushing up lugnuts."

"Oh please, a little respect for the commander." Wheeljack asked.

In that moment Ratchet arrived.

"Okay, let's see what progress have you made. By the Allspark." He said when he saw the hologram.

"Ratchet, hurry. Tell Optimus that we have discovered the secret of the keys." Bee said.

Ratchet went to look for his liege, and moments after he was seeing the hologram.

"Of course! Keys are useless without something to unlock. Target the space bridge to Cybertron." He ordered to Blaster.

Meanwhile in the Decepticon base, everyone was contemplating what Megatron did to the ground bridge.

"Yet another astonishing convergence of magic and science. Courtesy of the ancients." Shockwave said checking the ground bridge monitor.

"And our leader." Knock Out added.

"It's hard to believe, a few swings with that hammer and BAM!" Breakdown said.

"Our ground bridge is now a space bridge." Airachnid said.

Then the computer started to beep loudly.

"Our sensors are detecting a massive energon burst recording outside Earth's atmosphere." Soundwave reported.

"A surge of that kind can mean only one thing: activation of another space bridge." Shockwave deduced.

"Optimus has discovered that the Omega Lock is on Cybertron." Megatron said.

"It appears we have lost our advantage." Starscream realized.

"But with Optimus unaware that we now possess the means of interstellar travel the element of surprise remains in our favor. We must embark on this mission with every resource at our disposal." Megatron instructed.

The Decepticons went to the vault where all the relics were being held. Airachnid grabbed the Immobilizer, Stinger grabbed the polarity gauntlet, Breakdown took the energon harvester, Knock Out took the force field generator, Flamewar took the Apex Armor, Kickback grabbed the spark extractor and Soundwave took a small shard of red energon. At the same time, the Ark approached to the already open space bridge. On the top Optimus walked near the other Autobots and an entire battalion of Autobot soldiers and Aerobots.

"We'll be waiting for you if you need us." Elita reminded.

"Thank you, dear. Grimlock, assume command in me and Elita's absence." Optimus instructed.

That let everyone without words.

"What?! Are you serious, master?" Bumblebee asked in disbelief.

"Why are you going to put Grimlock in the same place he was before?" Arcee asked.

"Because he's the only one who had experienced leadership beside us." Optimus answered.

Grimlock could not believe what he heard. "I would be honored, master."

Optimus changed to his alt mode with the entire battalion following him and jumped to the portal, heading to Cybertron. At the same time, the Decepticons activated their new space bridge. The team was ready for departure when they heard a hammering noise.

"What he's forging now?" Breakdown asked.

Then Megatron joined them with a complete restored Star Saber.

"Everyone ready for your command, lord Megatron." Starscream said.

"Starscream, I want you to remain here in our base." Megatron said.

"What?!" He asked in disbelief.

"I know how much you want to join this fight for our world, my friend. But in case it could happen any setbacks, I can only trust you to keep everything under control here while we secure the Omega Lock. And don't worry, we'll keep you informed." Megatron explained.

"I…I understand, sir. Good luck on Cybertron." Starscream accepted as he went to the space bridge's controls.

"Optimus Prime must be stopped, no matter the cost." Megatron proclaimed.

The team transformed and went through the portal. Meanwhile, Optimus was leading the battalion across the ruins of a city on Cybertron. Four of the soldiers were holding the keys.

"According to the landmarks displayed by the keys, the object we seek is located deep within the sea of rust." Optimus observed.

Meanwhile, Starscream was pacing the floor, expecting to hear any word from the others. Then the monitor received a call, so he rushed to the controls.

"Megatron?"

"Uh, no, Starscream. It's Jack. Is something wrong? Because school's been out for almost an hour and no one showed to pick us up." Jack said as he, Miko and Raf waited at the school's exit.

"That is because the entire team is rather indisposed at the moment." Starscream explained. "I suggest you obtain an alternate method of transport."

"What he's saying?" Miko asked.

"The…Cons are busy." Jack answered.

"Then tell Starscream to come get us! It's not like he has anything else to do!" Miko suggested.

"Yes, like I'm going to let you ride aboard a plane. Just go home! I will be in touch later!" Starscream said before he hung up.

"Hello? He hung up." Jack said.

"What crawled up his tailpipe and died?" Miko asked.

"Did Starscream tell you what's going on?" Raf asked.

"No. They seem to be keeping us in the dark a lot lately."

Meanwhile on Cybertron, Optimus and his battalion continued following the coordinates across the sea of rust. But the back of the battalion did not realize that Kickback slowly phased from the floor. Once he was on the floor he fired all his guns at the Autobots, catching them by surprise.

"What? What just happened?" Optimus asked.

Kickback ran to the left before he transformed into his bug form and flew towards a wall and disappeared. At the same time, something started to hit the Autobots very hard, like a ghost. But once an entire line was down, Optimus saw that it was Soundwave, moving at hyper speed.

"Kickback? Soundwave? But that's impossible. The Decepticons do not possess the means to…" Optimus started.

But suddenly they saw a massive pile being levitated high in the air, and then it was dropped on top of some soldiers. Optimus saw that Stinger was the responsible of that, which ran on the top of a wall.

"Crush them!" Optimus commanded.

All the Autobots fired at Stinger, who changed to his vehicle form and drove off. While they were focused on him, Airachnid fired the Immobilizer from another wall, freezing some of the Autobots. At the other side of the wall, Breakdown came out and fired the energon harvester, which sucked the energon of a lot of Autobots, while Shockwave fired his cannon in vehicle form in the center of the top of the wall. Next Shockwave changed to his robot form, jumped down the wall and joined with the other present Decepticons as they charged against their foes. Meanwhile, Flamewar was firing from a tower above; next she jumped and activated the Apex Armor, joining the assault. Then Kickback and Knock Out came out of nowhere and joined them, while Soundwave continued smashing Autobots by his own.

"Defend the keys!" Optimus ordered.

Some of the Autobots circled around the four that held the keys, while the rest charged against the Decepticons. It was then when Knock Out pulled out the force field generator and used it, creating an energy barrier that blocked all the Autobots' attacks, he even used the barrier to push them back. Once they reached their enemies, Flamewar smashed them with the Apex Armor help; Stinger fired eliminating them one by one with his laser guns; Knock Out used a combination of his electric staff to stun the Autobots and slice them after with his buzz saws while he used the energy shield to push others against solid objects and crushing them in the process; Breakdown smashed them with his hammers and fired his turret continually; Airachnid battled with her spider claws the ones closer to her as she fired at the ones which were far, with both lasers and webs; Soundwave continued hitting the Autobots at hyper speed mode while Shockwave made use of his strength and his shock cannon's firepower; Kickback phased again in the ground and phased behind some Autobots and tackled them from behind in his alt form, roaring too. Then Optimus had had enough, so he pulled out his Dark Star Saber and joined the Autobot soldiers charging at the Decepticons. The Decepticons charged too, but this time Megatron joined too, who used the Star Saber to slice the Autobots and block their shots as he fired his fusion cannon too. He and Optimus ended clashing their swords once again.

"I once demonstrated that you were not worthy to forge the power of that blade and I shall do it again!" Optimus declared.

"Not this time." Megatron responded.

Optimus swung at Megatron, who blocked it. Then he kicked Megatron and swung his sword again, but Megatron returned with sidekick. After the Decepticons finished all the scattered foes, Flamewar and Soundwave charged at the main Autobot defense line and crossed. The remaining Autobots were the ones who had the keys. Airachnid quickly froze them with the Immobilizer, next Stinger used the polarity gauntlet to take the keys from them while Knock Out covered them with his energy shield. After Stinger attracted them, he, Airachnid, Flamewar and Breakdown grabbed the keys. Optimus noticed that, but Megatron took advantage and pushed him back before he unleashed a wave of light energy at him. Optimus did not have time to react, so the wave sent him flying to the top of a tower. The Decepticons retired in their vehicle forms, although the Autobots tried to catch them without success, especially because Shockwave continued firing to them with his cannon. Optimus recovered quickly and looked down at his battalion.

"I will have those keys or I will have your sparks!" He threatened.

Then Kickback phased through a big piece of metal and walked to the center of the battalion.

"I can help with the last part." He said revealing what he was carrying.

"The spark extractor!" Optimus said with horror.

Kickback punched one Autobot against three others before he phased down the floor, leaving the spark extractor activated. It unleashed a sphere of energy that wiped out every single Autobot. Even some of them tried to transform and fly away, but the sphere advanced too fast that it caught all of them. Noticing that the sphere was coming closer, Optimus roared as he threw the Dark Star Saber at the spark extractor, destroying it and eliminating the action radius. Next he went down to recover his blade, but the entire battalion was dead.

"Elita, the Decepticons have ceased the Omega keys! Send reinforcements, immediately!" Optimus demanded by com-link.

In the Ark…

"Calm down dear, do not take this so hard. Blaster has been briefing me on recent developments and we might have a more effective solution. But I need to be there, on Cybertron." She explained.

"All right dear, I leave it in your hands." Optimus accepted before he hung up.

"Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, you know what to do. Blaster, open me the space bridge. Smokescreen, get ready a lot of reinforcements for when I need them." Elita instructed as she changed to her alt mode.

Back to Cybertron, the Decepticons drove deep in the sea of rust. They transformed back to their robot form once they arrived to their destination.

"Our head start won't last long." Airachnid said.

"This is where The Fallen said we would find it, right?" Knock Out asked.

"These are the coordinates." Soundwave confirmed.

They arrived to a nondescript object.

"Doesn't look like much." Breakdown observed.

Megatron cleared some dust and saw the symbol of the ancient cybertronians. Starscream was still waiting in the base.

"Starscream, we have located the Omega Lock." Shockwave reported by the com-link.

Starscream let out a sigh of relief. "At last."

Back to Cybertron…

"According to The Fallen, the Omega Lock is a conduit to the very Allspark itself." Megatron said.

"Lord Megatron, an honor like this shouldn't belong to me or any of us." Flamewar said handing him the key.

Suddenly the four keys started to glow simultaneously. Then the lock began to glow too, following the rusted floor. Next the whole area began to transform into a huge ring above them. It generated a mystical energy, revealing that it was a portal to the Allspark. But before they could do anything, they saw Elita One coming in her alt mode, so they got their weapons ready. Elita transformed and landed in front of them and walked towards them quietly, as the Decepticon prepared themselves to fight.

"Decepticons, I would suggest that you put a halt to your task and hand over those keys." Elita advised.

"And why would we do that?" Kickback challenged.

In that moment, a space bridge appeared behind Elita One. From it emerged three figures: Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. And each one of them was carrying a pod. And to the Decepticons horror, they saw that the pods contained each one of their human friends Both Jack and Raf were nervous and scared, while Miko looked more like mad and annoyed.

"So that I might hand over the humans." Elita replied.

The Decepticons started to get scared, fearing for the safety of his friends.

"And if we refuse?" Shockwave asked.

"Then I will have no choice but to open the pods, exposing your pets to Cybertron's toxic atmosphere. And then we can all watch them instantly perish, together." Elita menaced as she approached Megatron, until they were face to face while the three Autobots examined the humans.

Although Megatron stood firm, he was actually nervous inside by the ultimatum.


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter Fifty One- Darkest Hour**

The Decepticons were in a big bind: the Autobots managed to capture Jack, Raf and Miko and trap them inside pods that they brought with them to Cybertron. And now they menaced to expose them to the atmosphere and let them die if the Decepticons do not surrendered them the Omega keys. For the moment they were holding his position without knowing what to do.

Miko tried to get free kicking the pod without result. "Not how I wanted to spend my first trip to Cybertron."

"Arcee." Elita called.

She lifted her pod which contained Jack. "Jack, is time to come out and play." She sang before she scratched the glass with her wrist blade.

"Go ahead. The Decepticons were prepared to sacrifice themselves for my planet. I'll do the same for theirs." Jack responded courageously.

"Me too, creepy." Miko answered too.

Raf gulped nervously, but he agreed with his friends.

"They're brave, without question. Perhaps we should oblige them." Elita said.

"If my decision dooms the future of the Decepticon cause on Cybertron, so be it. But I will never forsake our human allies." Megatron declared before he planted the Star Saber to the ground and took a few steps back.

One by one, the Decepticons deactivated their relics and threw them with the Star Saber. The children could only look sad how their friends gave up.

"Now if you please, the Omega keys. One at a time." Elita demanded.

Bulkhead took a step forward, holding the pod which contained Miko.

"You first, Breakdown." He asked.

Breakdown looked at Megatron, who signaled him to go. So Breakdown walked until he met with Bulkhead face to face.

"If I don't get the girl, I'll make you eat this key." Breakdown threatened slamming the key in Bulkhead's hand.

"You're welcome." Bulkhead answered giving him the pod.

"Get scrapped!" Miko cursed.

Next, Stinger and Bumblebee met half ways for the pod which contained Raf.

"It seems that at last one of the two has the advantage of its part in all aspects, don't you think?" Bee said.

"( **If I discover that you have done the least damage to him, you're doom.** )" Stinger menaced giving him the key and taking the pod. "( **Easy, Raf**.)"

When it only was left one human, Elita smirked.

"If this human was important enough to entrust with the Matrix of Leadership, he's worth two Omega keys." She declared.

Megatron signaled both Airachnid and Flamewar to make the trade. They met with Arcee half ways, so she placed the pod to the ground.

"No tricks, girls. If you do not want your boy to suffer." Arcee said with her wrist blades ready. "The keys if you please."

Arcee opened her hands and received both keys from the female Decepticons. Jack looked Airachnid sad, but she gave him a smile. Then Optimus Prime finally arrived in his vehicle form and transformed.

"Ah, very well dear. It seems that you have been able to give a turn to the situation." He observed.

Then a space bridge appeared before the girls could move back with the team, and Smokescreen came out of it.

"Hey everyone." Smokey saluted. "Someone asked for backup?"

Then behind him an entire squad of Autobot soldiers swarmed out from the portal and surrounded the Decepticons with their weapons ready. Meanwhile on Earth, Starscream keep checking the monitors waiting for any call from the team. Then he got a call.

"Lord Megatron? Were you successful?"

"Starscream, its June Darby. How are you?" She asked from her house.

"Busy, miss Darby. I'm expecting urgent news from the Decepticons." Starscream replied.

"Oh, is Jack with them?" She asked.

"No. Why?"

"I haven't seen him in all day. And he isn't returning my calls."

"I will have Jack contact you immediately should I hear from him. Now if you'll excuse me I must keep the com-lines clear." Starscream said before he hung up.

"Starscream?! Hello?!" June called, without answer.

At the same time on Cybertron, with the Decepticons cornered, Optimus proceeded to activate the Omega Lock.

"Now bare witness as a new era dawns on Cybertron." Optimus proclaimed before he inserted the first key.

Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead inserted the other three by order. Then the lock projected a holographic control panel.

"Behold the age of the Autobots!" Optimus shouted to the sky.

The Omega Lock started to charge when electric currents flowed through the structure. Because everyone was contemplating the charging, no one noticed that Optimus started to get dizzy. In fact he almost fell if it wasn't that he leaned on the terminal.

"Optimus! Are you alright, dear?" Elita asked worried when she saw him.

"Yeah. It is nothing." Optimus responded calming her down, but he looked to his right hand, which continued leaking lots of energon faster than before, what explained his dizziness.

Once they saw that the lock was fully charged, Optimus pressed a button. Then the lock sent a beam of pure energy at a crumbled building, making that all pieces mixed together. Within a minute, the building was completely restored.

"By the Allspark." Knock Out exclaimed impressed.

"( **Incredible.** )" Stinger followed.

"Whoa." The children said at the same time.

"Instant home makeover." Miko added.

"Shiny." Smokescreen observed.

Optimus looked to the water-like manifestation of the Allspark, next he looked to his right hand, and an idea came to his mind. To everyone's surprise, Optimus began to climb the pillars until he reached to the top. He saw in front of him the manifestation, and started to bring closer his right hand to it. Just when he touched it, a stream of energy flowed through him. Optimus screamed in pain while his body started to glow intensely in light, as his body started to change. After a while, he landed in front of everyone, but now he looked different: his size was double than before, he looked stronger, and now he wielded a powerful jet-pack on his back, although his colors were the same ( **Optimus Prime beast hunters version** ).

"Whoa. What a magic!" Bulkhead said amazed.

Arcee whistled. "That's what I call a look change."

"Optimus. Are you okay?" Bumblebee asked.

"I feel like I've never felt before. It seems that at last I have managed to materialize in myself the power that belongs to me, the power of the Primes!" Optimus yelled triumphant. "It seems I have finally recovered the power of the matrix."

"Optimus, you are taller, and strong and robust." Elita said admiring her sparkmate new appearance.

"How has he been able to improve himself?" Kickback asked in disbelief.

"It seems that the same way the Omega Lock restored that building, Optimus has been able to manipulate its special effect of restoration in his favor." Shockwave deduced.

Even although Megatron was impressed too by Optimus's renovation he did not forget what was at stake. "You have what you want, Optimus. This conflict is between Autobots and Decepticons. Allow me to return the humans to Earth."

"Oh, I wouldn't recommend it. They'll be far safer here." Optimus advised, making Megatron suspect about his real plans. "Grimlock, is the space bridge locked on target?" He asked through the com-link.

"Per your instructions, lord Optimus Prime." Grimlock answered.

"Excellent. Why rule only one world, when I can rule two?" Optimus smirked.

Then a space bridge appeared right above the Omega Lock. Optimus pressed a button and the lock fired a beam of energy through the vortex.

"No." Megatron said horrified.

The space bridge sent the beam directly to Earth. Meanwhile, June Darby was still in her house trying to call Jack with her phone. Suddenly a sudden earthquake startled her, so she came out to see what was going on. But what she saw made her drop her phone, just when Jack's answering machine sounded.

"Hey it's Jack. I can't answer because I'm probably saving the world right now." It said while June saw in shock that a blue beam was touching Earth from the distance.

That was noticed too in the Decepticon base.

"Lord Megatron, do you read? An unknown energy spike in Earth's atmosphere is crashing all my systems. Please tell me this is related to the activation of the Omega Lock." Starscream said.

Meanwhile, back on Cybertron…

"If the Omega Lock can restore Cybertron it'll do the same to Earth, right?" Miko asked.

"No. It will cyberform your planet in favor of its new matrix. Destroying all indigenous life in the process." Shockwave explained.

"Such raw power. What shall I call my new domain? New Iacon? Or perhaps Gilded Earth?" Optimus gloated.

Megatron looked the scene before he looked at the humans sadly.

"No!" Jack protested.

"Leave our planet alone!" Miko followed.

Next he looked back to Optimus, who laughed maniacally, the same as the other Autobots. With this Megatron had had enough, so he, fueled by rage, pulled out his sword and killed the Autobot in front of him. Next he sprinted for the Star Saber and grabbed it. Three Autobot soldiers tried to stop him, but he unleashed a wave of energy that sent them flying. Roaring in rage, Optimus pulled out his Dark Star Saber and charged for Megatron, so he did the same. But when they clashed their swords, Megatron used all his strength that he took the chance and made an ugly slice of Optimus's chest. The pain Optimus felt was so powerful that made him drop his saber and falling on his knees holding his chest.

"Optimus!" Elita yelled.

Next Megatron went for the Omega Lock, so all the Autobots started to fire at him, but he continued advancing, deflecting their shots. Elita tried to hit him with her big cannon that she pulled out from her back, but Megatron dodged it in the last moment. That allowed him to jump on her face and let out a battle cry as he prepared to hit the Omega Lock control panel. The result caused a big explosion that pushed everyone back, but at least the beam of energy disappeared, something that Starscream noticed too when all the computers returned to normal.

"Megatron, can you read?"

"Starscream, please open a space bridge." Megatron replied sad, so Starscream went for it immediately.

Back to Cybertron, the entire Omega Lock was now completely in ruins and flames. Fortunately the Decepticons were not harmed by the explosion, the same as the pods. Megatron appeared from the smoke and put the Star Saber on his back, just when their space bridge appeared and everyone went in. Bumblebee and the other Autobots recovered and witnessed in horror how the Omega Lock was now.

"What…what just happened?" Bulkhead asked, still in shock.

"It… it seems that our only chance to restore our home has just evaporated." Arcee answered, falling to her knees.

"Jackie is going to take a big disappointment, as well as the others. I promised them that we'll have a big party to celebrate this." Bulkhead added.

"I guess we should cancel the welcome home party." Smokescreen added too.

Then Bumblebee, fully of rage, punched Smokescreen.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Smokey asked annoyed.

"Help Elita to attend our master! He requires all the help that he can." Bee specified.

Instead of arguing with him, Smokescreen went to help Elita with Optimus, because he was still hurt with his match with Megatron.

"Easy Optimus. I'll call Ratchet to get you fixed right away." She told to her sparkmate, who was still on his knees.

Bumblebee noticed when the Decepticon space bridge closed.

"MEGATRON! You will pay for dooming Cybertron to remain a lifeless husk!" Bee declared furious.

But for everyone surprise, Optimus was not mad, instead of that he started laughing maniacally.

"They can run, but they can never again run home." Optimus smirked.

The Decepticons return to base was too quiet. Starscream noticed that they were carrying the pods with the kids still inside.

"The children? What happened?" Starscream asked.

But no one spoke, only set free the children.

"Somebody say something." Starscream demanded.

"Megatron…destroyed the Omega Lock." Knock Out finally said.

"What?! You did…" Starscream started.

"What was necessary." Megatron interrupted. "There was no time for another prolonged battle. Not with Earth in emanated danger."

"So you destroyed the only device in any universe capable of restoring our home? My liege... that was our only hope to recover our world." Starscream protested very depressed.

"You weren't there, commander. And it's not your place to second guess a battlefield decision." Kickback glared.

"It most certainly is! There had to be another way!" Starscream protested now mad.

"It wasn't that simple, Starscream." Jack said.

"Optimus Prime was using the Omega Lock to attack the Earth." Raf added.

"Megatron saved our planet." Miko followed.

"What about our planet!? All of our struggles and energon spilled, countless sacrifices for nothing!?" Starscream shouted fueled with rage.

"Calm down, Starscream. You're still in shock." Soundwave said trying to tranquilize him.

"Right decision or wrong what's done is done." Breakdown said.

"But we have another problem here on this world. The Bots just changed the rules when they put Jack, Miko and Raf into play." Airachnid said.

In that moment the computers beeped, signaling an incoming transmission.

"Megatron! The Pentagon's prepared to go Def Con One! I need to know what we're dealing with!"

"To what do you refer, agent Silas?" Megatron asked confused.

"Maybe you should step outside and see for yourselves." Silas answered.

"Soundwave, watch the children." Megatron instructed.

"Affirmative."

The kids didn't have any clue of what was going on either. The Decepticons took the supreme elevator to reach the base's top. Right in front of them was a huge cybertronian fortress. Meanwhile agent Silas arrived on his helicopter and landed next to the Decepticons.

"It's just as I feared." Shockwave started, making that everyone turned at him. "Optimus didn't want to use the Omega Lock's power only for destruction, but also for creation. And now he has managed to accomplish the first phase of his cyberforming of Earth."

"The construction of his new fortress." Starscream observed.

"In Jasper, Nevada? I don't get it. I already had the town evacuated. Why here?" Silas asked.

"( **Look! Something is coming down!** )" Stinger pointed.

Everyone saw the Ark descending towards them, in front of the fortress.

"Because the Autobots have discovered the location of our base." Megatron concluded.

On top of the Ark, Optimus Prime was accompanied with the other main Autobots in front of a huge battalion of Aerobots.

"Our opportunity to revive Cybertron has been lost, due to the treachery of Megatron! But from our fortress of New Iacon we will instead seize control of this world!" Optimus declared.

"My liege, allow me to be your seat where you can witness victory." Grimlock offered himself.

Grimlock changed to his alt form, which now was a little difference ( **Grimlock's Age of Extinction alt form appearance** ). He approached Optimus, so he got over him and started riding on the Dinobot.

"Autobots, transform and roll out!" Optimus proclaimed.

"All hail Optimus Prime!" All the Autobots yelled.

"That's the Prime I know!" Elita declared cheered.

Elita One changed to her alt mode, the same as the Aerobot battalion and started leading a direct assault against the Decepticon base.

"Let's go, air armada! Do not take prisoners, attack!" She commanded.

The Aerobot armada fired a barrage of laser shots at the Decepticons, but they survived. They started to defend themselves the best that they could, especially because the next wave was an Insectobot swarm that charged at them and started crawling over their base. The Decepticons fought and fired them off the base's stop before the others continued firing them, so Megatron swung the Star Saber and destroyed all the Insectobots that were on its way. But coming from the explosion Elita and the Aerobots approached for another round.

"Decepticons, into the base!" Megatron instructed.

As everyone went back to the elevator, Airachnid noticed that Silas went back to his helicopter.

"Silas! What are you doing?!" She asked.

"My job!" He answered preparing the helicopter.

But Airachnid saw the Aerobots firing some missiles at Silas, so she acted faster and pulled him out of the helicopter with her webs before it exploded.

"Uf, I owe you one." Silas told her.

"You're not going to do this craziness alone. Megatron, I need to help Silas to engage the Bots!" Airachnid shouted.

"Be careful you two!" Megatron nodded before he and the others descended in the elevator.

Airachnid changed to her vehicle form and allowed Silas to get in before she took off into the air. While Silas spotted how their enemies came closer, Airachnid pulled out the weapons of her vehicle form and fired at the Autobots, but they were too many that forced her to step aside. The Autobots continued firing at the base, what was noticed inside too when everything began to shake.

"What's happening?" Jack asked.

In that moment the Decepticons returned back.

"Situation outside?" Soundwave asked.

"The Autobots have invaded Jasper." Starscream answered.

"And Silas and Airachnid seem to think they can hold them off." Breakdown added.

"Wait! Airachnid is out there fighting an entire army?!" Jack asked worried.

"Don't worry, Jack. Airachnid is very tough for her size." Knock Out tranquilized.

Meanwhile outside, Airachnid was being chased by three Aerobots who fired at her constantly.

"This is definitely the worst situation I have ever been in. You'd better ask for help." Airachnid advised to Silas.

"I'm already doing it. Special agent Silas to air defense command, I need immediate combat support." Silas asked through the com-link.

Then one shot hit Airachnid her side, and three Insectobots blocked her path.

"Okay, now we're really in trouble." Airachnid observed.

"Come on, air defense command." Silas repeated through the com-link a little nervous.

But before the Insectobots could fire they were shot down by heavy laser fire.

"What was that?" Airachnid asked surprised.

From the sky above, a very familiar cybertronian ship appeared and continued firing at the Autobots. The three Aerobots who were chasing Airachnid were blasted in pieces by three missiles launched by a pink plane.

"Megatron, reinforcements just arrived." Silas reported to the Decepticon base.

"Agent Silas, your military cannot prevail against…" Megatron protested.

"You didn't think I was gonna let your team have all the fun, did you?" A familiar voice said.

"Haha, its Astraea!" Breakdown shouted happy.

"And you didn't think either that I was going to let my brother to be the only one of our class to fight in the final match, right?" Another female voice called.

"Hahaha, and that's Slipstream! This is what I needed to recover all my self-esteem!" Starscream exclaimed cheered.

Indeed, they were Slipstream, who fought in her alt form; and Astraea, who continued shooting down enemies aboard her ship.

"Astraea and Slipstream? But how did you…?" Knock Out asked at the moment when Astraea appeared on the screen.

"I picked up a strange energy surge, and when I went to investigate it I met with this fellow Seeker along the way, and here we are." Astraea explained.

"Hope you don't mind the company." Slipstream added.

"No. It's just that after everything, well…" Shockwave started.

"We're still on the same team, professor. Always will be."

"You said it, Slipstream." Astraea supported. "Now let's teach those Bots to not mess with our boys!"

Both female Decepticons continued their warpath, eliminating all the enemies they found in their way. In that moment, Megatron made a very hard decision.

"Soundwave, prepare to bridge everyone out of here." Megatron decided.

"We're abandoning the base?" Starscream asked in disbelief.

"The base is lost. Astraea, Slipstream, Airachnid and agent Silas can only buy us time to escape. Stinger, Rafael, you'll depart first." Megatron instructed.

"( **Copy that.** )" Stinger nodded.

"You're splitting us up?" Raf asked.

"Shouldn't we just stick together?" Jack added.

"All for one and one for all?" Miko followed.

"We must disperse to avoid capture until we can regroup and launch a counterattack. Survival is our only priority now." Megatron explained before he started to organize the departure teams. "After Stinger and Rafael, Breakdown and Knock Out will leave with Miko. Jack, since Airachnid is busy supporting agent Silas, Flamewar will take care of your safety as your substitute guardian. Kickback will be the next one, followed by Starscream and finally Soundwave, Shockwave and I."

Back to the outside, Airachnid had an Insectobot chasing after her. She noticed an Aerobot heading her way, so she used the smoke from the burning remains of another Aerobot to blind them, making that the Aerobot and the Insectobot crashed into each other in the smoke.

"Whoa, that was very smart." Silas congratulated.

"The day I'm down by a couple of bugs is the day I…" Airachnid started, but a big shadow cut her off.

It was the Ark, which was making its way above the Decepticon base. Grimlock, with Optimus above him, stood in the edge of the Ark's top spotting everything. Inside the base, Stinger and Raf went through the portal. Next Soundwave rested the ground bridge to another location while Breakdown and Knock Out got ready for departure, with Miko inside Breakdown.

"We haven't much time!" Megatron reminded.

Jack hopped on Flamewar in vehicle mode and saw Miko, who looked worried before she and the two Decepticons left the base. The ground bridge aimed to new coordinates, so Jack put on his helmet and he and Flamewar went through the portal. At the same time outside, June was driving towards the base and saw the Ark above it. Unfortunately an Aerobot spotted her and fired at her, the shots caused her to swerve and stop the car. The Aerobot transformed and approached her, and June could only honk the horn. Airachnid was near shooting down another Autobot, so Silas could hear the horn.

"June?!" Silas spotted.

"Hold on there, we're coming at you!" Airachnid said.

The Aerobot was about to shot at June, but Airachnid shot it in the back. The Autobot fell on top of the car dead, so June got off and saw Airachnid landing near her, she rushed to get aboard. Meanwhile, only Slipstream and Astraea continued fighting against the Autobots. But Astraea was too busy chasing two Aerobots that she didn't noticed that Elita One was right behind her.

"The bad thing about big ships is that they are easy targets." Elita said as she launched two missiles at her ship.

Astraea saw that in her radar, so she steered her ship in a barrel roll and even banked to the left and the right, but the missiles ended destroying her ship's engines. The ship crashed somewhere behind the mountain which hid the base.

"No!" Slipstream yelled, before went after Elita fueled by rage.

Slipstream fired everything at Elita, lasers and missiles, but the Autobot managed to dodge them all. Once she saw a chance she speeded up to hid behind some rocks, and when Slipstream followed her she appeared above her, returned to her robot form and kicked her hard. Next she grabbed her by the wings and spun around before she threw her into the ground while the Seeker screamed.

"And that's how a Seeker goes down!" Elita bragged before she laughed maniacally.

Meanwhile inside base, it was Kickback's turn for departure. So he bowed in front of Megatron before he transformed and flew at the ground bridge. Now it was Starscream's turn.

"I hope we are able to meet again."

"Indeed, Starscream. But I need to speak with you about something important." Megatron said. "I know that this is not a good moment for it, but I need you to swear something to me. Given the times ahead, any misfortune could occur. And without knowing what could it be, I want to secure the future of the Decepticons leadership. So promise me that if something happens to me or I'm not present to continue my work, you'll take care of lead our people as new leader of the Decepticons. I know that you're ready to lead, Starscream. Just don't ever forget it."

Starscream remained silent by the surprise at first, but next he nodded as he shook his hand with Megatron. "I will. I want you to know, in case we do not see each other again, that it has been a pleasure and an honor serving alongside your guiding, lord Megatron."

Starscream saluted him and said goodbye to Shockwave and Soundwave before he transformed and went through the ground bridge.

"Soundwave, Shockwave, it's your time."

"What about you, Megatron?" Soundwave asked worried.

"I will ensure that the Autobots cannot follow." Megatron replied.

Both Decepticons looked each other before they approached to the ground bridge. Soundwave was worried and sad but he kept himself stand at the same time, but Shockwave kept his head down.

"I…never imagined it would end like this." Shockwave said sadly before he and Soundwave disappeared in the portal.

"Neither did I, old friend." Megatron said a little sad too, before he looked at the ground bridge's controls.

Outside, the Ark readied all its big weapons and aimed at the Decepticon base. All the weapons began to charge, something that Airachnid, June and Silas watched from the distance.

"Airachnid, what's going on?" Silas asked.

"Oh no, they're preparing for an orbital bombardment."

At the same time, Megatron took the Star Saber and strike the ground bridge just when the Ark's weapons fired all at the same time, destroying the entire mountain and the base. When the dust cleared, the entire base was level into a fiery ruin.

"No." June expressed horrified while Silas refused to look.

"We can't do anything more. Let's get out of here." Airachnid finally said affected by the sight.

Above the base's ruins, Grimlock descended by jumping over the Ark's closest parts while Elita One flew directly towards it. Optimus decided to prove some of his new abilities, so he activated his jet-pack and flew directly to the base. There the three Autobots transformed and met together, right in front of the Decepticon symbol of the ground.

"This is place alright." Grimlock observed.

"This was the place." Optimus corrected.

"United we stand, divided they fall." Elita added.

Not very far from them, in a pile of burning ruble was Megatron's arm stuck out, which looked like if it had no life. A new age of evil, darkness and terror had begun. Earth now was at the mercy of Optimus Prime and his Autobots.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter Fifty Two- Dark Times**

The Ark was still above the Decepticon base's ruins while two Insectobots arrived and started digging up its burning pieces, as well as the Autobot soldiers. Optimus was on top of the ruins, still with the injure Megatron caused him on Cybertron, waiting to confirm his enemies' demise.

"Leave no stone unturned!" Optimus commanded.

"Master, look who we found." Bumblebee called while Bulkhead and Wheeljack carried someone, the same as Arcee and Cliffjumper. "Pulled from the wreckage of her ship, crashed next to the other one: Astraea and Slipstream."

Both female Decepticons groaned in pain.

"So, two survived. Take our guests back to the citadel for questioning. Back to New Iacon." Optimus declared looking at his new fortress.

"This is the dawning of a new age, my liege. The reign of Optimus Prime."

"You do have a way with words, Grimlock." Optimus said before he turned to the Autobots who were still digging. "Make haste! Unearth the Decepticon corpses!"

While the Autobots continued their job, elsewhere, Megatron laid within the rubble, still online for what it seemed. After a while, the Autobot soldiers showed what they recovered from the ruins: the capsule where it still laid Sandstorm and the Forge of Solus Prime. Optimus descended from Grimlock's back so see the results, however he was not pleased.

"The Forge of Solus Prime?! How is it that you have managed to materialize that alongside this traitor scum yet not the remains of a single Decepticon?!" Optimus demanded.

"Answer your lord and master! Where are their bodies?!" Grimlock repeated as he roared to terrify the troops.

Inside a cave nearby the base, Kickback appeared through the rock wall and managed to drag Megatron with him. Megatron was badly injured, so Kickback laid him down against a rock.

"You're hurt. But you probably look quite worse than you feel." Kickback said as he put a hand on Megatron.

Megatron groaned in pain.

"No! Don't move or talk, just power down. Get your strength back. I got you covered, my liege." Kickback reassured.

At the end, the Autobots reached to the conclusion that their enemies were not in the base's ruins.

"If we have not found them after thoroughly recording their entire base, it could only mean just one thing: the Decepticons clearly ground bridged from their base before it was destroyed." Ratchet realized as they walked towards New Iacon.

"If that is true, they could be anywhere." Elita added.

"We must initiate global surveillance, my lord and lady. Send search and destroy teams to every sector of this planet." Grimlock suggested.

"Blaster, monitor all earth-based transmissions for any sign of Decepticon communication, with each other or with their human counterparts." Optimus instructed by com-link.

"Master, we have company." Cliff spotted.

The Autobots saw an army of tanks and helicopters heading towards them and New Iacon.

"Ha, foolish humans. They think they're match for us?" Ratchet mocked.

"Please my liege, allow me to take care of them by my own way." Grimlock asked as he let out some fire from his mouth.

"Please Grimlock, let us handle this alongside the armada." Bumblebee suggested getting ready to fight.

"I will gladly join you, pal." Cliff said following his example.

"I admire your determination, but that won't be necessary." Elita calmed.

"Not when we can engage our enemy with new found might." Optimus finished looking at the highest point of New Iacon.

At the very top of the fortress were four big cannons, a kind of superweapon; each facing the four directions. The one that positioned the direction where the military were coming began to charge while Optimus devilishly smirked. And then the cannon fired at the center of the army, trapping them in some kind of gravitational force field, next it dragged all of them in a ball and next an explosion sent them all flying. Not only the military suffered because of the Autobot presence, but also Jasper, which was completely in ruins. Now Optimus, who was completely restored; was sit on his new throne, on the top of New Iacon, and he was also talking with someone by com-link.

"A new power dominates your world. Any further attempts to attack me will be met with even greater force. Your leadership be advised that my energetic particle cannons possess enough firepower to decimate any densely populated area of my choosing. I would in all likelihood to set sights on your nation's capital, for starters." Optimus proclaimed.

The one who he was talking was no one else that agent Silas, who was listening everything through his phone on his own office.

"Point taken. Now what do you want from us?" Silas demanded.

"Nothing, agent Silas. The Autobots mean no harm to humanity. We merely desire a place to call home." Optimus answered, while Elita and Bumblebee were in front of him listening.

"No offense, Prime, but I'm having a tough time swallowing all of this. Since you seem so being on plastering humankind under molten steel."

"Agent Silas, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Decepticons is now over. And our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the true enemy of the Autobots is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race…peacefully. Together, agent Silas, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality." Optimus lied before he hung up and stood up from his throne.

Optimus walked toward the edge of the platform, while Elita and Bumblebee applauded to him.

"You too have a way with words, dear." Elita said.

"I almost believed you myself for a moment." Bee added.

Optimus laughed looking upon the Earth. "Earth is our planet now, my friends. And we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them."

Moments later, someone was very busy.

"Yes, General Bryce. Special containment protocol G-1000 has been executed as plan. Evacuation of Jasper, Nevada was 100% successful. As far as the citizens and the media are concerned the threat was a meteor shower, and the town is to remain quarantine until the resulting radiation levels can be decapitated." Silas talked by the phone. "Sir, any form of retaliation will be too risky. I just need more time!" He paused, hearing what the general was saying. "Yes, I understand."

Silas hung up the phone and sit on his chair not very relieved. Then June Darby entered.

"Agent Silas, those medical supplies still haven't arrived. We have wounded men who need…" She started.

"I'm doing the best I can, nurse Darby!" Silas snapped. "I've been a little busy juggling a bunk of nuke happy generals who don't seem to care if they blow Nevada sky high. And an Autobot warlord who wants to make nice now that the Decepticons are in the scrapyard!" He said before he calmed down himself. "Prime's opinion, not mine. He's feeding me a load of horse food, trying to crush our spirit."

"Still no word, from anyone?" June asked worried.

Silas saw how bad was June by the feeling of not knowing anything from her son, so he decided to try to calm her down.

"Listen, no contact only tells me that the main com-link went down when the base was pounded down into pancake batter." Silas explained.

"But if I just call Jack?" June asked.

"You know it's too risky. So do the Cons. The Bots could trace any cell phone signal." Silas reminded.

"Then take me home." June decided. "If Jack can't call, that's where he'll look for me."

"Jasper's under complete Bot lockdown. No one's getting back in there. The only ones who can fix this mess are Megatron and his Cons." Silas said as he turned towards the window. "I'm sure they're out there…keeping a low profile. They gotta be."

"I…I understand." June admitted in defeat. "I will keep trying to help the wounded."

Just when June came out of Silas's office she could not avoid letting out tears, thinking what could happen to Jack. She entered the main hangar of the military center, and just in the center heading at the outside was Airachnid in her alt form.

"Hi Airachnid."

"June." She noticed before she changed to robot form. "Any news about him?"

"No. And agent Silas don't want to take me there for my safety, but I'm sure that if Jack is fine…" She started.

"June!" Airachnid interrupted. "Jack is strong as Megatron, and he has been able to survive against Arcee by his own without any kind of military training or Decepticon support. I'm sure he managed to get out of the base in time."

"In that case, do you believe that he's fine out there?"

"That depends on who goes with him. I just hope he's not with her."

"Her? Who?"

"Flamewar. The last time that two-wheeler went alongside Jack, she let him at the mercy of a couple of Insectobots. Thank Primus that Kickback was there to save him."

"Be with whoever he is, I just hope he's okay." June said.

Meanwhile, above an open area, there was a helicopter Autobot scanning the vehicles which traveled through the road trying to identify the Decepticons by their alt form.

"Scanning." The Autobot said as he was scanning each vehicle of the road.

Then he found a Camaro, so he tried to match it with Stinger. However its colors were different: this was brown with red stripes.

"Negative. No Decepticon recognition." The Autobot saw before he circle around and made his way back to his base.

After he was gone, the same car drove out of the road and hid under a tree. It opened its door revealing Raf inside it, who saw if the sky was free of Autobots.

"Clear." He said getting out.

The vehicle transformed, revealing that Stinger changed a little his alt mode. Stinger moved some tree branches and saw the Aerobot leaving the place.

"( **It seems he didn't see us. That was close, right?** )" Stinger said.

"Too close. But your paint job did the trick." Raf said.

"( **Stinger calling to base, come in.** )" Stinger called by com-link. "( **What? No one responds, I guess we are alone.** )"

"The com's up-link is still down. Sting, I realize Megatron sent us all to different locations to make us harder for the Bots to find. But if we don't know where in the world anyone else went, how are we gonna find them?" Raf asked a little nervous.

"( **Going to the one place that the Bots will never suspect to find us.** )" Stinger realized.

"Right. Just keep heading to Jasper. Towards Optimus's giant fortress." Raf said with a worried face.

Breakdown and Knock Out were driving right next to a mountain, with Miko sat in Breakdown's passenger seat.

"Aw, I never knew they were so many rockies." Miko said bored.

Then she pulled out her cellphone.

"Miko!" Breakdown yelled as he stopped, forcing Knock Out to stop too.

"Breakdown, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Just Miko." Breakdown answered to him before he talked with her partner. "No cellphone! You know the rules!"

"Dude, I wasn't calling anyone! Just playing a video game I already downloaded." Miko said showing his phone's screen.

"Sorry. I guess I'm a little on edge." Breakdown apologized before he and Knock Out continued their way.

"Where are we heading anyway, pal? Because I don't have a clue about which way to go." Knock Out said.

"You guys have some sort of plan?" Miko asked.

"We're following standard special team protocol." Breakdown answered.

"Which is?" Miko asked again.

"An emergency plan created by the Combiners. My team, the Stunticons; followed it during the war, just like the Constructicons and the Combaticons. In case any team member got stranded or separated from the unit, we'd always rendezvous at the exact same set of coordinates." Breakdown explained.

"So, that includes Astraea? I heard that she was trained by the Combaticons' leader." Knock Out reminded.

"Exactly. If she's still alive, she'll be there." Breakdown reassured as they continued their way.

But Breakdown didn't know that Astraea was actually suffering the Doctor of Doom's tortures.

"Don't stop now. I was just beginning to enjoy myself." Astraea said.

Ratchet groaned a little, but soon he smirked. "Believe me, Astraea. There's more where that came from and you will tell me the location of your partners."

Ratchet used his torch to do some serious scratching on Astraea's chest.

"No matter what it takes or how long. If it were not for that information, you would already be my new experiment subfield, just as they are going to be humans very soon." Ratchet said.

"Hey! Do not let her to take all the fun. You've already messed with her for too long. And put this on your head, doctor: innocent living beings are not your experiments!" Slipstream glared.

"Ah, don't worry, tough flyer. I still can have a lot of fun with you." Wheeljack said coming out from the shadows and pulling out his swords.

Only Ratchet and Astraea could witness what kind of torture Slipstream was suffering from the Wrecker, making her scream.

"If neither wants the other to die, you will tell us exactly what we want to know." Ratchet menaced.

"Like we told you, they weren't expecting us." Slipstream said, still affected by Wheeljack's torture.

"They never bothered to fill us in. So go ahead, knock yourselves out." Astraea smirked.

As squadrons of Aerobots flew around the fortress, Smokescreen was summoned to Optimus throne.

"How can I serve you, lord Optimus Prime?" He asked bowing.

"Assemble a team and disembark for Cybertron immediately. While hunting Decepticons remains paramount, we must not squander the opportunity to recover any Iacon relics left behind in the chaos. For all we know, Megatron is out there somewhere…planning to do the same." Optimus explained.

At the same time, Kickback was still inside the caves, sat next to Megatron. Then he started to move.

"It's okay, Megatron. You're with me, Kickback."

"How did…I get here?" Megatron asked.

"When we were evacuating the base, just as the Bots opened fire…" Kickback started.

A flashback showed when Kickback was leaving the base.

"It was my turn to ground bridge away."

The portal sent Kickback inside a forest, but he transformed as he turned at the portal.

"But I couldn't do it. I couldn't let you face Prime's army alone."

Kickback put on his wrist the phase shifter and activated it before he ran at the portal.

"So I snuck back."

Kickback returned to base, but it was already too late.

"But that's when the blast hit and the whole joint came tumbling down."

When he looked around him he spotted Megatron's arm in middle of the rubble.

"And I managed to pull you from the wreckage before the Bots found you. Using the phase shifter, which I managed to snag in all the confusion back on Cybertron." Kickback told, finishing his story. "I…I'm sorry I defied your orders." He apologized, while Megatron continued struggling on staying awake. "We're safe here, but we're down so deep that no one can pick up our signals. I'll have to scout above ground if we're gonna have any hope of finding Knock Out." He said before he got up to head to the surface.

"No." Megatron said, weakly. "No hope."

"What do you mean? Doc Knock's the only one who can get you patched up." Kickback explained, but Megatron didn't respond. "Megatron?"

Meanwhile, Flamewar and Jack entered an industrial zone looking for a hiding place. Fortunately it was closed down.

"What if Jasper wasn't evacuated in time? She could be hurt or taken by the Bots." Jack said worried as he removed his helmet.

"Jack." Flamewar said, trying to catch his attention.

"And if she did get out, she's gotta be worried out of her mind, not knowing where I am. Not mention the same about Airachnid, she must be worried the same way." Jack continued while Flamewar changed to her robot form.

"Jack, calm down. Listen, this is what we're going to do: we'll get back to Jasper, find a way to reach your mother and Airachnid, and the rest of the team." She specified looking to her surroundings.

Suddenly she heard a helicopter noise and spotted one in the distance.

"This time I'll do it right." She said to herself mentally before she turned to Jack. "Stay here. It could be a Bot on our tail."

Flamewar jumped over a concrete wall and transformed into her vehicle form, following the helicopter. Jack sighed before he took out his cellphone and scrolled through the contact list to Airachnid and his mother's number.

"Sorry mom. I'd call if I could." Jack lamented, but then an idea came to his mind that made his laugh. "One text couldn't hurt, could it?"

Jack started to write the message. But when he sent it, Blaster intercepted it on New Iacon, and he wasn't alone.

"At last." Arcee declared when she saw that was Jack who sent that message. "You'll not escape this time, Jack and Airachnid." She said to herself. "My lady, we have located one of the Decepticons human allies. I volunteer to go after him."

"Permission granted, Arcee. Send in some troops with you. And Blaster, Optimus wants a live feed." She instructed before she transformed and flew from the fortress control room to the Ark.

Blaster received the orders and deployed Sundor. At the same time, June was taking all the medical supplies when her cellphone buzzed. She pulled out her phone and saw that someone sent him a text.

"Jack." She hoped as she saw the message. "With Flamewar, safe. Love you and Airachnid." She read, what made her sigh with happiness. "Agent Silas, Airachnid, Jack's alive!"

June ran looking for Silas or Airachnid, so she ended meeting with in the hangar.

"June, what's the matter?"

"It's Jack. He just sent me a text saying that he is fine. Also that he is with Flamewar."

By hearing that, Airachnid sighed. "I just hope she knows how to take good care of him this time."

After sending the message, Jack put his cellphone away. Then he heard some strange noise, he looked to when it came from, and for his horror he saw an Aerobot coming towards him from the sky. And to make things worse he recognized the Autobot who was on it.

"Hello Jack! Missed me?!" Arcee shouted.

"Scrap." He cursed.

Jack started to run as the Aerobot started shooting him. Meanwhile, Flamewar continued driving until she reached to a boulder and returned to her robot form. She aimed her weapon at the helicopter, so she could identify it.

She sighed in relief. "It's just a human."

But she heard explosions coming from behind her, and saw signs that something was wrong in the industrial zone.

"Oh no, not again. Jack!" She exclaimed before she changed to her vehicle form and drove right to the chaos.

Jack managed to evade the shots between some bunks of wet coal. Just when the Aerobot passed above him, Arcee jumped over and landed in the same place, while Jack saw two Aerobots circling around as they brought two Autobots who turned into motorcycles, which landed next to Arcee.

"Find him! I wanna be the one who takes his head!" She instructed.

"I'm so toast." Jack said because he heard that too while he continued running.

Jack climbed a fence, but before he could jump off one of the two-wheeler Autobots shot near him. The impact caused him to be tossed of the fence. Right then Arcee spotted him.

"Aja, there you are. What's the matter, Jack? You don't want to play with me?" Arcee mocked. "What if we play hide and seek?"

While Jack ran for a garage nearby, Arcee blasted a power line tower next to him, but fortunately Jack managed to remain in the center of the tower while it went down over him. Now he leaned against the garage, seeing Sundor coming at him.

"Smile, Jack. You're on Autobot TV." Jack said ironically.

The Autobots saw what Sundor was recording when Optimus arrived.

"Master, we have a visual." Grimlock said.

Jack tried to find some cover by going underneath a truck trailer. Unfortunately the Autobots saw where he was hiding, but before the two-wheeler Autobots could fire, Arcee ordered them to stop. Next she approached the trailer.

"You're still hard to catch, Jack, and that's what I like best about you. You're a great prize for any hunter, but don't worry, I don't have intention to kill you…yet. First I need to make you suffer a little so your screams can attract Airachnid here. Then I will gladly finish with you both. But of course first I need to find you. So, where have you been hiding?" Arcee played before she fired at the trailer where Jack was hidden, exploding it in two. "Hello, Jack."

"Stay away from him, Arcee!"

In the last moment Flamewar arrived and after changing to her robot form she pushed Arcee away.

"What?! You again?!" Arcee asked mad. "Where's Airachnid?!"

"I'm the one who is covering him now. So if you mess with Jack, you mess with me."

"You are not part of my game, and I will not let you ruin my big moment!" Arcee shouted pulling out her wrist blades.

As the two two-wheelers clashed each other, Jack took the chance and opened the trailer. Flamewar saw that and started pushing back Arcee while Jack grabbed a cable and prepared a trap. Once she was close enough, the cable made Arcee trip over the trailer and she ended stuck. That made the two-wheeler Autobots to shot at him, but just before the shots could hit him Flamewar grabbed him. She put him to safety before she shot them back.

"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Decepticon and her human pet?" Optimus asked, annoyed by Flamewar's efforts.

"Well, in my experience…"

"Not a riddle, Bulkhead." Grimlock interrupted.

"Uh, heh. Sorry."

"It seems Arcee is in a very stuck situation." Cliff added.

"Are we funny today?" Elita glared him.

Back to the combat scenario, Flamewar continued looking around until she saw a gas station nearby.

"Over there!"

She transformed, Jack got on her and they drove past the station and took cover behind a pump.

"Not the best cover." Jack pointed.

"We're not here to hide." She smirked.

With Arcee still stuck, the two-wheeler Autobots drove to the gas station and transformed once they arrived. Next, with their weapons ready, they crouched to see Jack holding two hoses, both leaking gas.

"Hey guys! Unleaded or diesel?!" Jack asked.

The Autobots noticed a buddle of gas flowing between them. Then Jack tossed the hoses down and ran. They were about to fire when Flamewar appeared from behind the car Jack was heading and shot first. The blaster hit the gas, causing a huge explosion that consumed both Autobots and the station while Flamewar covered Jack. The explosion even caught Sundor, frying all his circuits and causing him to crush, thing that the Autobots saw too, making Optimus roar mad.

"Let's get out of there before they sent reinforcements." Flamewar suggested.

"And before Arcee gets free." Jack added.

Flamewar transformed, Jack mounted on her and put on his helmet before they accelerated out of there. And just when Arcee managed to get free, she saw the explosion's remains and Sundor lying still next to her. She grabbed it before she let a roar to the sky. Meanwhile, very far from there, on Cybertron, Smokescreen was looking the reconstructed building that Optimus restored before while the Autobot troops and some Insectobots were removing debris.

"Come on, fellas. Make the most of yourselves!" He cheered.

After a while two Autobots lifted a burnt, rusted piece of metal to reveal a relic underneath it.

"The Apex Armor. Our illustrious leader will be please. Now any sign of that phase shifter? I really like that thing." Smokey remembered as he began looking it in the ground.

"Sir!" One of the soldiers called as he spotted something.

"By the Allspark." Smokescreen expressed surprised.

Meanwhile on New Iacon, Blaster started repairing Sundor with his tentacles, while Ratchet examined Arcee.

"I can't believe that two-wheeler Con managed to get away with Jack. I'm starting to hate her as much as Airachnid." She realized.

"Well, at least you didn't end as bad as Sundor." Ratchet said.

"Well? Did any of the surveillance data survived?" Optimus asked.

As he was repairing it, Blaster confirmed that all the data was gone.

Bee sighed. "A shame. We might have a least learned the direction in which Flamewar and the human fled."

"Clearly we need to improve our methods of hunting Decepticons." Wheeljack said.

"And built upon the tactical advantage that we've managed to secure." Elita added.

"Lord Optimus Prime, I am ready to return to New Iacon, and I'm certain you'll want to see what I've uncovered." Smokescreen reported through the com-link.

"Blaster, open a space bridge portal." Optimus requested.

Blaster stopped Sundor's reparations and activated the space bridge, creating a portal in front of them. Smokescreen emerged from it.

"I find myself an urgent need of good news. So please, Smokescreen, tell me that you've found something useful." Optimus said.

"Somethings, my liege. And someone." Smokescreen answered stepping aside.

Some footsteps revealed that someone was passing through the portal, but no one could visualize it until it was too close. Then Grimlock gashed in surprise.

"He… lives?" Grimlock said recognizing the Autobot.

"Perceptor." Optimus saw before he chuckled. "Just the tactical advantage I need."


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter Fifty Three- Scattered**

Perceptor bowed to his master. "Optimus Prime, my liege."

"Perceptor! This is quite an unexpected turn." Optimus answered.

"Praise the Allspark! You're alive!"

"Grimlock! This is also a surprise for me. You look different, like evolved." Perceptor observed.

"Well, this is only a little upgrade that I took from the ancient cybertronian knights."

"Indeed, my masterpiece. And where are the other Dinobots?"

Grimlock looked down. "Gone. A lot has happened here on this planet."

"That's a shame. The entire Dinobot team was one of my true masterpieces."

"Indeed. But what happened to you?"

"That's something we all want to know. We thought you'd perished on Cybertron." Elita remembered.

"We all did." Bee added.

"Reports of my demise were greatly premature." Perceptor started to tell. "A pair of Decepticons infiltrated my facilities on Cybertron, sabotaging my space bridge."

Perceptor told all what happened when Airachnid and the Vehicon Steve attacked his space bridge.

"I gave chase, but failed to accurately calculate the outcome."

Followed when he chased the Decepticons through the vortex, until Airachnid hit him. Next Perceptor laid in the wreckage.

"I awoke in the rubble, hurt. It soon became clear that I was marooned on our dead planet. With no means of communications. In time, I repaired my wounds and resumed my experiments. The solitude enabled me to make tremendous advances in my research."

Next Perceptor was working peacefully on his lab, but then the alarm sounded, and he saw something new on a computer.

"Until one day, my instruments detected a massive surge of unidentifiable energy. I traveled to investigate its origin at the edge of the sea of rust, where I encountered your salvage team and the smoldering wreckage of the Omega Lock. But this was not the search party I had anticipated so long ago."

Perceptor drove in his cybertronian tank form until Smokescreen saw him approaching before he transformed, ending the flashback.

"Leaving one unanswered question? Why was I left for scrap? Abandoned? Why?" Perceptor demanded.

"When I saw you getting inside the space bridge, just before it was going to explode no one saw you coming back. I believed that you were just gone." Grimlock explained.

"Hm, you know? It makes a lot of sense, I would think the same if I was in your place." Perceptor accepted.

"But you will be pleased to know that I've avenged your seeming demise by personally terminating the Vehicon Steve." Grimlock said.

"You eliminated one of the Decepticons that attacked me?" Perceptor asked surprised.

"Yes, now he is pushing up lugnuts." Grimlock declared proudly.

"Careful, Grimlock. You may dislocate a stamping gear patting yourself on the back." Cliff warned.

"I really appreciate that." Perceptor answered, glaring at Cliffjumper.

"As Optimus Prime's second in command, allow me to welcome you back to the winning team." Grimlock said.

"And allow me to clarify the new chain of command. While Grimlock will retain authority over military operations, Perceptor will be my second in command in charge of all scientific endeavors." Optimus announced.

"So you are saying that we shall each report directly to you?" Grimlock asked pointing to himself and Perceptor.

"Affirmative."

"Well, no problem for me." Grimlock said as he followed the others out of the room.

Although Grimlock had taken it very well, the others were quite mottled.

"Uf, seriously?"

"I'm with you, Jackie. What is with that?" Bulkhead asked.

"Does this guy appear out of nowhere and give him already half of command?!" Arcee said surprised.

"It is not fair that Optimus promotes him with a high rank only for his scientific experience while we have been serving Optimus a lot of time before we figured out that he survived." Bee added.

"Even though we disagree with his choice, Optimus knows the same as I that Perceptor is one of the most intelligent Autobots that served him during the war for Cybertron. I even think he will be a great help, so we must respect his election." Ratchet explained.

"Anyone would say that you are all jealous." Smokescreen suggested as he left the room.

"Thanks for the complement." Bee mumbled.

Meanwhile, Jack and Flamewar drove near a field of wheat.

"Hey, you're hungry? There's a town up ahead." Flamewar pointed.

"Ah, better not. I'm running low on cash." Jack answered.

"At least you don't have to buy gasoline. I'm pulling over anyways, need to stretch my legs." Flamewar said as she stopped next to a farm. Jack got off her so she transformed and started stretching her arms. "Aw, oh yeah."

"Flamewar, the team is scattered to the winds. For all we know, you and I could be the only ones left." Jack said worried looking at the sun.

Flamewar went up to him, went on one knee and held his shoulder. "I don't believe that, Jack. And I know you don't either."

"Maybe not, but the Autobots out number us 100 to 1. Aren't there any more Decepticons out there who can help?" Jack asked.

"The war for Cybertron took a heavy toll. But there were others who escaped in other ships, like the one I come from: the Leviathan."

"So where are they?" Jack asked.

Flamewar grabbed a handful of sand and let the wind blow it away from her hand. "Scattered to the winds. So let's focus on getting back to Jasper, and getting all the team back together. I'm sure Airachnid is looking forward to it."

At the same time very far from there, Stinger continued driving by another endless road.

"( **We need a way to know where the others could go. Have something?** )" Stinger asked to Raf, who was checking on his laptop any possible clues for the other Decepticons' location.

"Nothing, Sting. Just the same old rubber masks and bad CGI, but the usual conspiracy websites might our only chance to… Whoa, I found something." Raf expressed when he discovered a very promising picture. He looked closer and was able to identify a very recognizable Decepticon. "It's Soundwave."

Meanwhile on the Ark, Optimus and the other main Autobots were updating Perceptor about the recurring situation while the others saw them at the distance mad.

"Just look at him, enjoining all the glory of being the new important guy in need of information." Bulkhead moaned.

"Perceptor's toting is so transparent!" Wheeljack added. "But qualities are not those that make you a veteran, but the experience."

"Exactly, and that's how we're going to prove Optimus that we should be more trusted than that newcomer."

"And exactly how do you plan to achieve that, partner?" Arcee asked.

"By finding those Decepticreeps before anyone does."

"Well said, Cliffjumper. Prime's respect is earned by deeps, not words. We shall use the human websites, since we didn't try to find our enemies by human procedures." Bee said as he and the others started checking the human conspiracy website. "Billions of cameras in the hands of those miserable humans. One of them is bound to catch a Decepticon eventually. We just need to find it."

"You guys have something?" Wheeljack asked.

"Nope." Cliffjumper answered.

"Uh uh." Arcee followed.

"Not a sign." Bulk added.

"Useless, useless, useless." Bumblebee said, until he found the one he was looking for: Soundwave's picture. "Hey guys, look!"

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Cliff said.

"It seems Megatron's surveillance chief is having a few technical problems searching for a hiding place." Wheeljack added.

"When Optimus see this he'll not doubt in recognizing our efforts, compared with others." Bulkhead hoped.

"Optimus." Bumblebee started turning to the others. "We have found something of great interest!"

Back with Stinger and Raf…

"The photo was taken yesterday. In a junkyard outside a public park." Raf investigated as he did his tricks. "I better scrub Soundwave, and replace him with…"

At the same time in the Ark…

"A Decepticon." Bee introduced as he and the others stepped aside.

But instead of the picture, the screen showed a dancing monkey. That made Smokescreen laugh a little, but when all the leaders stared at him he quickly straightened himself up.

"Wait. What?!" Arcee said turning back at the screen.

"It was just here!" Bee said.

"Surely one of you saw it!" Cliffjumper added.

"You would do well to take a cue from Blaster on occasion, and keep things to yourselves!" Optimus explained grinning his teeth.

"Vow of silence. Such a cop-out." Bulkhead admitted before he and the others continued researching.

"Lord Optimus Prime, surely our Decepticon prisoners are a better source of information than this primitive data-net." Perceptor suggested.

"I'm sorry to disagree with you, Perceptor. Wheeljack and I have been torturing Slipstream and Astraea for days." Ratchet reminded.

"If they knew anything, they would have spilled it now." Wheeljack followed.

"Again… some prove to be better at holding their tongues than others." Elita pointed.

"Perhaps you would have better results if instead of a club, you use a scalpel. I recommend a cortical psychic patch." Perceptor explained.

Meanwhile, Breakdown, Knock Out and Miko sat all together on a grassy mountain slope.

"I don't think she's coming." Miko said.

"Don't worry, Miko. Every member of any special team knows the protocol. Astraea will show." Breakdown said.

"If she's still kicking." Knock Out pointed.

Inside the Autobots lab, Slipstream and Astraea were strapped down to an experiment table.

"So, you have intention to sneak inside our heads? Just great. So, who's going to be first?" Astraea asked.

"Seekers are known by knowing more known locations viable for possible Decepticon hideouts." Perceptor answered as he checked the patch's tools.

"In that case do your worst, professor. I'm a Seeker, I can take it." Slipstream challenged.

Perceptor inserted on his back one end of the patch's cable and grabbed took the other end before he started advancing at her. "Trust me. You in fact, cannot."

Hours later, Perceptor went to the throne to report Optimus Prime.

"The patch failed to yield any new information on the whereabouts of the Decepticons." He informed.

"Hm, I see." Optimus said sat on his throne.

"That it would seem that the Decepticons have outlived their usefulness. With your permission, Optimus Prime, I will see it to their immediate termination." Wheeljack declared.

Moments later, both female Decepticons moaned as they recovered from the patch.

"Wake up, female Cons." One Aerobot shoved him.

Both Decepticons were being held by two Aerobots as they were at a ledge, and down below them was a smelting pit.

"Time to smelt. Wheeljack wanted you conscious so you'd know precisely who ordered your execution." One of the Aerobots said as he aimed his weapon at them.

Just in that moment, Slipstream spotted some kind of plane which flew directly above them and hid behind a wall. Next she saw Starscream showing his head behind the wall, and winked at her, so she knew what to do.

"Where is Jack-Rabbit? I thought Wreckers liked to do this stuff themselves." Slipstream mocked, making them to shove her closer to the ledge.

"Jump." The Aerobot demanded.

"Do you really think this is a good time to provoke them?"

"Don't worry, Astraea. We have everything under control." Slipstream spoke softly, but that left Astraea confused. "Have you guys forgotten that I am flyer?"

Then Slipstream kicked the Aerobot in the face and took the chance to grab his weapon and use it to free her hands and wings. That made other Aerobot which were at the other side of the ledge to aim their weapons at them.

"Okay, I'll jump!"

Slipstream jumped right into the pool, and quickly changed to her jet form. Astraea followed her example and jumped too, so she landed right on her.

"What a surprise." Astraea said after yelling of excitement.

The other Aerobots transformed and followed them, firing a storm of lasers. Astraea jumped on one of them and started hitting him with her chains. The others Aerobots were destroyed by missiles, launched by Starscream, who circle around.

"Let me lend you a hand." He declared before he fired some lasers at Astraea that destroyed her chains.

"Thanks for the ride." She said as she jumped of the Aerobot, who crashed right into a spike.

Fortunately she landed on Starscream, and turned her hands into cannons to cover Starscream's tail. Slipstream eliminated the remaining Autobots with her laser guns before joining with her brother and Astraea as they continued flying away from the Autobot fortress, which turned on all the searchlights as response to the Decepticons' escape.

"I know you would come for the rescue, brother."

"Well, you know what I always say: it doesn't matter how much worse things can become…" Starscream started.

"We Seekers never leave anyone behind." Slipstream ended.

"Thanks for the rescue, commander. How did you know we were here?" Astraea asked.

"Before being sent by Megatron to a far location he asked me to take the Decepticon leadership in case something happens to him. So I decided to return back to the base in search of any survivor, and I found you."

"So, now what?" Slipstream asked.

"We need to regroup with the rest of the team, to follow Megatron's instructions to prepare a counterattack. Unfortunately I don't know where to start looking, our liege sent everyone to different locations to make us impossible for the Autobots to catch." Starscream told.

"I think I know where we can start. Follow me." Astraea said as she jumped of and changed to her alt form landing on the ground while the Seekers followed her.

Meanwhile, on Optimus' throne…

"This is how you handle things?!" Optimus yelled mad.

"I'm impressed that two simple prisoners managed to escape from a Wrecker's care." Perceptor noticed.

"Actually, sir, I allowed the girls to take fly." Wheeljack confessed.

"You what?!" Optimus asked getting up from his throne.

"Nothing to worry about, chief. Because every move, every word from the Cons will be monitored." Wheeljack said, catching Optimus interest. "Doc."

"It is true, Optimus. Thanks to a simple tracking device that we implanted while Astraea was still unconscious, following the failed cortical psychic patch." Ratchet explained.

"Now all we have to do is wait, watch and listen. And when Screamer and the females reunite with the other Decepticons, we Wreckers will strike." Bulkhead finished, making Prime smirk.

Meanwhile, Stinger and Raf arrived to the junkyard where Soundwave's picture was made.

"They gotta be here." Raf said while he was looking for them and Stinger drove through the place. "Stop, Stinger. I want to try searching on foot. Soundwave?!"

Raf got out of Stinger and started looking for their Decepticon comrade. He was not aware that something was watching him from the shadows. Starting to feel like he had something behind him, Raf turned behind, but immediately something grab him and drabbed him away. First he was scared, but when he saw what grabbed him a metallic finger blocked his mouth, and next he saw Soundwave covering him.

"Absolut silence. Possible Autobot presence nearby."

"Soundwave!" Raf said embracing him.

"( **Raf! Where are you?!** )"

"Don't worry, Stinger. I'm here. And also Soundwave." Raf called as Soundwave came out of the shadows carrying him on his hand.

"( **Soundwave! Good to see you made it!** )"

"Affirmative. The same as Shockwave." He answered.

"Shockwave's here too? Where is he?" Raf asked cheered.

Soundwave brought them to an open area and pointed just where it was a recognizable cybertronian tank.

"Shockwave!" Raf called walking at him. "Shockwave! It is me, Raf!"

However, the vehicle didn't respond.

"Uh, Shockwave?" Raf asked confused.

"Go away. That goes for you too, Soundwave. I told you before." Shockwave responded in a sad tone.

"( **What he's talking about?** )" Stinger asked to Soundwave, and he simply lowered down.

"You're interrupting my power-down." Shockwave continued.

"( **You're not serious, right?** )" Stinger said.

"Come on, Shockwave. We need your help to find the others." Raf reminded.

"( **So we can regroup to strike against Optimus Prime.** )" Stinger added.

"We can't stop Optimus, not anymore. The war is over, and we…lost." Shockwave responded.

"He has lost hope." Soundwave told them in sad tone.

"You're giving up?!" Raf asked in disbelief. "We can't just give up!"

Shockwave changed to robot form. "Then tell me what we can do. Tell me what chances we have without communications, without a ground bridge, without a base of operations, or resources of any kind." He counted.

"( **Grimlock used a ground bridge when he was alone.** )" Stinger remembered.

"Sting is right! We know Grimlock have access to a ground bridge while he was operating solo." Raf added.

"Indeed. He clearly had been using the derelict Decepticon ship, the Harbinger. What logic that have to do with anything?" Shockwave demanded.

"It could be full of cybertronian tech, and it's probably abandoned now that Grimlock is back with the Bots." Raf explained.

"Well, resources won't be of much use. Not without someone to…lead us." Shockwave said with sorrow.

"It's a start!" Raf pointed.

"Then you'll have to start without me. This is someone else's fight now."

"There is no one else, Shockwave. Just us! Just the team!" Raf said.

Shockwave shook his head as he turned his back on them.

"Please." Shockwave began as he returned to his vehicle form. "Just let me... rust in peace." He said sadly.

Raf finally gave up. "Come on, Sting."

Stinger transformed and allowed Raf to get aboard before he drove out of the junkyard. Soundwave looked to Shockwave just one more time.

"Farewell, old friend. I wish good luck for you." Soundwave declared before he transformed and followed Stinger.

Meanwhile Megatron continued inside the cave, and then Kickback phased through the wall.

"I'm back." Kickback announced, so Megatron looked him, still groaning by the pain. "I combed through every square micron of our old base. I couldn't find Knock Out's medical kit, not even a bandage."

"The Forge… of Solus Prime." Megatron named in a weak tone.

"It's gone too. The Bots picked the place clean." Kickback reported.

Megatron continued moaning in despair with heavy breathing while Kickback reflected about it.

"Wait! If you had the forge you can fix yourself up. Power of the Primes. Megatron, hang on just a little longer. That hammer's gotta be somewhere in Prime's fortress." Kickback said before he phased through another wall.

Meanwhile, at the dawn, Breakdown and Knock Out continued waiting, but Miko was laying sleep against Breakdown's foot. Suddenly the Cons heard some kind of engine noise coming from a road between the mountains, so they got up, making Miko to fall on the grass.

"Miko, wake up." Breakdown called.

She stretched and yawned. "Why?"

"Someone's coming." Knock Out answered as he pulled out his electric staff and his gun and Breakdown prepared his hammers and turret.

The two Decepticons hid in two different places and charged their weapons at whatever could come out from the path. But then Breakdown lowered his weapons.

"Breakdown? What are you doing?"

"Easy Knock Out. I know the hum of that engine anywhere." He said cheered as he walked to the road.

Then Astraea arrived in her vehicle form and changed to her robot form.

"Haha, Astraea!" Breakdown yelled happy running at her before giving her a bear-hug. "Where've you been, girl?"

"Catching up with a few old dance partners." She replied feeling Breakdown's hug with so much strength.

"I'm glad that you're fine, Astraea."

"Good to see you too, Knock Out. I missed a lot seeing your chassis again since our mission."

That made Knock Out to act like if he was blushing and didn't know what to say.

"Hehe, there is something about you didn't tell me?"

"Oh no, Breakdown! I don't want to say weird and sensible things in front of Miko!" Knock Out excused nervously. "Any way, glad that you've finally arrived."

"And not alone." Astraea announced.

Just then Starscream and Slipstream descended in vehicle mode and changed back to robot form before touching ground.

"Starscream, thanks the Allspark! I knew you made it out there, I never doubted." Knock Out declared as he and Starscream shook their hands.

"So than I, doctor." Starscream answered as he noticed that Miko was taking pictures of the reunion.

"Good to see you too, Miko. Safe to assume we're the only five Cons around." Slipstream observed.

"Hehe, five Cons and one human." Starscream corrected.

"Miko being present at the service, sir." Miko announced standing firm, making Starscream smile. "So what are we waiting for? Let's make some noise."

"What's our next move, commander? Circle back to base?" Breakdown asked.

"There is no base anymore. The Bots blasted it to dust. The only visible thing was their new fortress." Slipstream told.

Unfortunately, their entire conversation was recorded in the Ark.

"The dim-wit played right into our hands." Wheeljack said before he chuckled. "I leave everything on your hands, doc. Come on, Bulk. It's our turn."

Both Wreckers went out of the bridge as Ratchet continued monitoring the situation.

"Aerobots to the flight deck, assist the Wreckers with their mission. We have pinpointed the enemy." Ratchet instructed.

Five Aerobots met with Wheeljack and Bulkhead and allowed them to ride on them as they flew to the Decepticons' location.

"Watch it Cons. Here we come." Wheeljack smirked.

Once they arrived to a forest, Bulkhead and Wheeljack transformed and drove to a secondary location while the five Aerobots landed near a river. They turned all their hands into laser guns. The Wreckers arrived to the top of a mountain.

"We're at the coordinates, Ratchet. The squadron is on the ground while Jackie and I positioned ourselves on high ground to watch everything." Bulkhead reported.

"Hold fast! They're approaching the squadron's position." Ratchet told as he monitored the Decepticon and Autobots signals.

One of the Aerobots noticed something approaching by the river, so they aimed at it. But it was only a tree trunk floating with the current, so they relaxed. Bulkhead and Wheeljack started to think that something was out of place.

"I have a bad feeling about this. The scanner says that the Cons are inside the forest, but I didn't spot anything yet."

"You're right, Jackie. Where are the Decepticons?"

They didn't notice that something was approaching from behind them.

"You think we should go down there and look for them by ourselves?" Bulkhead asked, but he received no response. "Jackie?"

When Bulkhead turned around he saw that Wheeljack was grabbed by Astraea and Breakdown while Miko put some trash in his mouth, preventing him to speak. And next he only saw Knock Out approaching his electric staff to his head before everything went dark. After immobilize them, the Cons watched the Aerobots.

"Targets in range." Astraea saw, so both Seekers prepared and aimed their missiles at their enemies.

One of the Aerobots approached the river and saw the tracker on the trunk, attacked to something.

"Now!" Starscream yelled.

"Grenade!" The Aerobot shouted.

But it was too late already: the Seekers fired the missiles, which hit the grenade, creating a huge explosion that killed all the squadron. That was spotted in the Ark too.

"She… she tricked us." Ratchet realized, while Optimus showed a face of disappointment. "Bulkhead, Wheeljack, what happened? Where are you two?!"

Ratchet's words were heard by the Decepticons as well.

"What do we do with these two?" Breakdown asked.

"Let's get them lost." Starscream suggested as he saw Miko pointing to a near waterfall.

They carried the Wreckers until they were just at the waterfall's edge and pushed them down. The two Autobots were dragged away by the strong current, receiving continuous hits from the rocks.

"How did you know the Bots planted a tracker on you?" Miko asked.

"I figured the Bots were up to something. So I did a little poking around under my hood, the same as Slipstream." Astraea explained.

"Haha, that's Astraea." Breakdown congratulated.

"So, what's our next move?" Knock Out asked.

"We still need to find the rest of the team before the Autobots try another strategy." Starscream instructed.

"And exactly how?" Miko asked.

"I took all the equipment that I could carry before I abandoned my ship, and we salvaged some ammunitions from Astraea's ship on our way out." Slipstream told as she changed to her jet mode.

"You though that made a loud noise? Just wait." Astraea said before she transformed too.

"Then we don't have time to loose. Decepticons, rise up!" Starscream proclaimed as he transformed and lead the way.

Both Knock Out and Breakdown transformed too and followed them after Miko got inside Breakdown. Meanwhile, Raf, Stinger and Soundwave arrived already to the Harbinger, and now they were working on getting the ship's systems operational. Stinger plugged in a power-core cable, making the energon canisters to get full.

"( **Ready. Fire it up, Raf.** )"

"Hold it right there, Sting." Raf instructed while Soundwave just finished repairing the rest of the system.

"All systems are fully repaired."

"Got it, Soundwave." Raf nodded as he literally walked on the console's keyboard and hit some buttons. "And, powering up."

The Harbinger started to gain power, but it immediately died again.

"It seems the Harbinger's systems are being affected by the time passed and rust buildup." Soundwave deduced while Stinger was disappointed.

"Don't worry guys. We'll keep trying, we'll figure out." Raf said trying to keep them cheered.

Raf was going to try something when suddenly…

"Maybe what you need is a little guidance." A voice said from behind them.

"( **Shockwave! You're back!** )" Stinger saw.

"You're miscalibrating the energon transducer." The Decepticon scientist said as he walked towards them.

"Shockwave!" Raf yelled happy.

"What are you doing here?" Soundwave asked.

"Let's say the logical words of a certain genius have made me change my mind." Shockwave answered as he moved Stinger aside. "Now step aside so I can work."

Raf moved away from his hand so he could type on the terminal while he continued looking him, so Shockwave looked him back, like he was smiling. Meanwhile, Jack and Flamewar continued their way on the road.

"The last time things looked this bleak Megatron slipped me that key card." Jack told.

"What key card?" Flamewar asked.

"Oh, right. You were not around when that happened. Megatron entrusted me the key to Vector Sigma."

"Really? He entrusted that to you?!"

"Yes. What a huge responsibility. Anyway, he gave me that as something we can hang our hopes on."

"I know you're feeling helpless, Jack. But this doesn't need to be your burden."

Suddenly a giant spaceship passed above them, forcing them to stop. The ship circle around and landed in front of them. Jack got of Flamewar as she returned to her robot form.

"Stay behind me. And if the worst happens, run all that you can. No matter where you go I will find you." She said.

The ship powered its elevator shaft and a large mist prevented Flamewar to see who was on the shaft. She instinctively activated her weapons, but when she saw who was the ship's owner she lowered her weapons, relieved and surprised at the same time.

"Jack, I don't think we are gonna need that key card." Flamewar said.

Once the mist disappeared, Jack could see that the new cybertronian was a big green with red details robot with a body that resembled a plane.

"Meet Dreadwing." Flamewar introduced.

At the same time inside the Ark…

"So not only did you fail to destroy the Decepticons, but you allowed their number to increase?" Optimus retailed as he glared both Wreckers. "Is there no one who could bring me their heads?!" He shouted at the entire room.

Elita One sighed. "Perhaps it is time to allow Grimlock to act the next time we locate them."

"It will be my pleasure to hunt them down." The Dinobot answered.

"If I may, lord Optimus Prime, during my exile on Cybertron I resumed work on a long dormant project." Perceptor began as he walked to the controls and displayed a DNA structure. "One that I believe might provide a solution to our current problem."

"What is that?" Bulkhead asked confused.

"Cybernucleic acid." Ratchet observed. "The building blocks of all cybertronian life."

"This hails from a specimen I excavated upon our planet and has yielded promising results." Perceptor explained.

"The Decepticons continue to evade us. Do you really think that the solution to our mess is going to be in a simple petri dish?" Arcee questioned.

"And who knows how long the Decepticons will reach while we wait for whatever is yet to come." Cliff added.

"You misunderstand. The subject has been fully cultivated and it only needs be transported from my laboratory on Cybertron." Perceptor answered, leaving the two Autobots without words.

"Then by all means, activate the space bridge." Optimus declared.

Back to Cybertron, Perceptor examined his experiment, which was still in a liquidized stasis container pod. He went to the controls and charged up the pod. That sent a lot of electricity to the pod, waking up the creature, followed by the pod preparing itself to release the creature. Meanwhile, Optimus waited sat on his throne tapping his finger on the throne's arm when suddenly the space bridge appeared in front of him. As six Autobot soldiers spotted Perceptor coming out of the portal, he walked towards Optimus with the other Autobots around the place and he bowed.

"I presents to you, my liege, the ultimate Decepticon hunter." Perceptor proclaimed as he pointed to the portal.

The metallic creature started emerging from the portal, making the Autobots to take a few steps back. The huge being had four legs with sharp claws, a head with horns followed by a long neck, its body had two large wings and a long tail: it was like a cybertronian dragon. Optimus stood up from his throne and stared at the creature as it let out a tremendous roar.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter Fifty Four- Reunion**

The Autobots showed different reactions towards the new creature as it roared: Elita One was speechless and Ratchet and Grimlock were impressed, while the rest of the Autobots were terrified, Optimus, on the contrary, smirked.

"Is that…a Predacon?" Bulkhead asked in disbelief.

"I believe they've been extinct since the beginning of cybertronian history." Ratchet pointed.

"Indeed. But the specimen you see was breed in a laboratory. Cloned from fossilized remains which I discovered on Cybertron." Perceptor explained as he rubbed the Predacon.

"I have to admit that is awesome seeing one…a living one." Grimlock said before he changed to his T-Rex form and walked towards the Predacon, earning its attention. Both reptiles looked each other as they circle around curious.

"An interesting move, Grimlock. Beast to beast first contact." Perceptor observed.

"Just great, now we have two prehistoric beasts to deal with." Wheeljack sighed.

"But I'm confused. I mean, its name looks like it's more related with our enemies. Its name should not be closer to us? Because it's with us, why not call it Predatobot?" Smokescreen asked.

"I don't know." Cliff added.

"Perceptor, it does my spark good to see you once again, tampering with creation." Optimus said as got up from his throne and approached the creature.

"Optimus, I don't think that could be wise." Elita advised.

"Master, please, keep your distance!" Bee warned.

"No need for alarm. The beast is completely under my control." Perceptor reassured.

Optimus stood up close, face to face and examined the Predacon. "Such primal magnificence."

"And exactly how is this beast going to help us find our enemies?" Arcee demanded.

"With some chemical help." Perceptor answered as he pulled out a small vile of energon. "A sample of energon from Astraea. Spilled during the Decepticon's failed interrogation." He held the vile up to the beast.

The Predacon looked at the vile and scanned it, locking onto Astraea's genetic signature.

"Let the hunt begin." Optimus declared smiling.

The creature branched out its wings and took fly. It roared as it headed to where the Decepticon actually was. Speaking of Astraea, she was alongside the other Decepticons and Miko hidden behind some rocks, looking at cave.

"Guys, you know I'm all for blowing the scrap out the stuff, but what is flattening an Autobot mine have to do with getting the band back together and taking down Prime?" Miko asked.

"Simple." Slipstream answered.

"When we light up this place, the blast will be big and unmistakable." Astraea started.

"Any Decepticon within 500 klicks will see the sky glowing with energon and come running." Breakdown finished.

"That way we'll be able to locate the closest members of the team to start setting things up." Starscream added.

"Then bring the rain." Miko simply said.

Meanwhile, inside the Harbinger…

"Mainframe's up and running." Raf reported stepping on some buttons. "But I'll need help packing the operating codes."

"I'll take care of that." Soundwave answered connecting his tentacles. "Fortunately someone managed to connect the ship's mainframe with the Autobots net."

"Perhaps. But even if the ground bridge proves functional, it would be next to worthless without a means of pinpointing the current location of our compatriots." Shockwave pointed.

"( **Why not just track our signals?** )"

"Think about it, Stinger. If the Autobots had the ability to track Decepticon signals, we'd all have been at Optimus Prime's mercy here on Earth a long time ago." Shockwave explained.

"Ah, back where we started." Raf sighed.

Then Soundwave came up with something. "But not if I can reconfigure these Autobot frequencies. At the very least we may be able to access their com-link." He started to type some buttons.

Meanwhile, Flamewar and Jack were still impressed to see the new Decepticon.

"No one seen or heard from you since Cybertron went dark. How did you find your way to Earth?" Flamewar asked.

"Soldier, we may not be on Cybertron, but the military protocol remains." Dreadwing responded firm.

"My apologies, sir." Flamewar said as she straightened her posture and stood up straight.

"Sir?" Jack asked confused.

"Advise the native life form to watch its tone as well." Dreadwing said, referring to Jack.

"What? Who is this guy?" Jack asked a little upset.

Flamewar bent down to him. "Dreadwing was captain of the Seeker armada during the war back on Cybertron, and one of Megatron's most loyal soldiers. Very by the book, just go with it." Flamewar whispered.

"As for your broader question: my story is that of all the Decepticons since the exodus. I wandered the space ways in search of others. Reuniting with some, often only to see them fall at the hands of the Autobots." Dreadwing told.

"Until you detected the Omega beam and followed it here." Flamewar deduced.

"If you are referring to the massive energy burst originating from Cybertron, that would be affirmative." Dreadwing nodded. "Upon my arrival it became evident that this planet had been invaded. My scanners also detected Decepticon life signals, yours being in closest proximity to my position."

"Signals. As in plural?!" Jack asked excitedly, but he saw Dreadwing glare at him so he did the same as Flamewar. "Sir?"

"Ten total." Dreadwing specific.

"Out of twelve." Jack said lowering his head down.

"Jack, that doesn't necessarily mean what you're thinking. Decepticon signals can't be detected when they're shielded." Flamewar reassured.

At the same time, Kickback phased through the ground and looked to the fortress of New Iacon.

"Cozy little place you built for yourself, Prime. Finding the forge in there might take a while. Then again, maybe you still keep your valuables in the usual place." Kickback deduced looking where the Ark was.

It took him a couple of minutes to sneak through the fortress walls, until he arrived to the bridge where the ship was docked at. Once inside he continued phasing through the walls.

"I won't let you down, Megatron." Kickback said.

"That we are what?! Overreacting?!" A voice shouted, clearly Arcee's.

Kickback phased through the wall immediately before a group of Autobots came from a corner.

"I'm just saying that you might feel a little jealous with our new acquisition. In fact you should feel relieved now that we have something that can eliminate our enemies like target practice. Look at Grimlock."

"Easy for you to say, Smokescreen. Grimlock feels excited now that he's not the only beast around, and your position in helping Ratchet with his lab's works is not something that everyone will want." Cliffjumper said.

"But we have been fighting more time than that lab scientist and Optimus not even have considered giving us proper credit for it." Bulkhead groaned.

"And now that Perceptor has gained Optimus and Elita's attention as well is going to be more difficult to demonstrate it to them." Bee added, but Smokescreen was not listening to their excuses.

"Sure thing. Did you remember the smug look on his eyes when he introduced the Dinobots for the first time to Optimus Prime? Well I'm sure that same thing happened when he unveiled that new beast to him." Was what Kickback listened from Arcee from the other side of the wall.

The Insecticon took a few steps backwards and phased through another wall. The room was compact and had a red glow. He looked to his left and saw nothing, but when he looked to his right he saw Sandstorm's face. He let a small yelp and passed out of the stasis pod, he did a back flip and got back up before looking at it.

"You don't scare me, ugly." Kickback said before he saw that inside other of the containers contained the Forge of Solus Prime, so he walked towards it. "Hello, beautiful."

Back with the most numerous Decepticon group, Astraea, Knock Out and Breakdown finished placing the last grenade at the energon mine entrance. After that they returned with Miko and the Seekers.

"Status report."

"Munitions planted, commander." Knock Out whispered.

"Then ignite it." Starscream ordered.

"Let's get this party started." Astraea said as she about to press the detonator.

Suddenly they heard a strange roar.

"What is that?" Starscream asked.

"Company." Miko pointed at a figure flying towards them.

"Elita One?" Slipstream asked. "I want a rematch since she took me out of the sky."

"No. Whatever it is, is bigger." Knock Out observed.

The figure flew into the moonlight to reveal itself as the Predacon.

"I don't remember seeing that move in Elita One's repertoire." Breakdown said.

The creature descended a little as it roared and started to charge something inside its chest. Next it flowed through its neck and fired a huge fireball at the Decepticons. Despite they were impressed by the creature, they grabbed Miko and jumped out of the blast's range. Next they saw looked back to see the creature fly around shrieking.

"A dragon?! First the Bots have dinosaurs and now they have a dragon too?!" Miko shouted in disbelief.

"What's a dragon?" All the Decepticons asked in unison.

"Giant flying fire-breathing lizard." Miko explained.

The Predacon flew back and fired at them again.

"Breakdown, take Miko to a safe spot! Decepticons, prepare for combat!" Starscream instructed.

Breakdown changed to his vehicle form while the Predacon landed in front of the other Decepticons who started firing their weapons at it. Despite receiving a lot of shots, it looked like the creature received no damage. So it take chance to swing its tail and sent the Decepticons flying. The impact sent Astraea and Knock Out smack into a boulder, time that allowed the creature to approach them. But fortunately Breakdown hit its head with his hammer, but the creature prepared to launch more fire so Breakdown ran to get away. Unfortunately the blast hit Breakdown, leaving some flames on his chassis.

"Breakdown!" Miko yelled as she approached him while he cleaned the flames. "You okay?"

"Easy! I'm maybe hot to the touch." Breakdown warned.

"Let me take a look." Knock Out said walking to them

Despite they were in front of it, the Predacon did not look interested in them.

"Why isn't it coming after us?" Miko asked.

The Predacon examined the place where Astraea was when he hit her.

"Looking for me, beast?!" Astraea called behind it. "I'm right here."

The dragon looked at her threatening, but it was not aware that she placed a grenade right below it.

"Now!" Astraea yelled to the Seekers above her.

"Try to digest this, you beast!" Starscream pronounced as he and Slipstream fired their missiles.

The missiles hit the grenade causing a great explosion, but the dragon looked unharmed.

"It manages to survive that?" Slipstream asked in disbelief.

"We're gonna need more firepower!" Starscream advised.

"Good thing I know where to find some!" Astraea declared before running to the cave full of explosives.

Deep inside the cave there were a lot of Autobot miners doing their routine, until…

"Excuse me, passing through!" Astraea exclaimed jumping over a cart full of energon.

"Decepticons!" One of the miners exclaimed as the guards aimed their weapons.

However the tremors and hissing sounds got their attention, so they looked behind them to spot the Predacon crawling through the mine right towards them, so they screamed and ran like Astraea did.

"This looks ridiculous!" Astraea yelled.

Seeing that the beast was getting close, Astraea transformed and drove underneath the beast. It was a difficult maneuver but she managed to drive through, so she reached to the cave's entrance, changed to her robot form and reunited with the team.

"And the walls came tumbling down." Astraea said pressing the detonator.

The explosion was the biggest ever seem which let a huge energon smoke cloud.

"Yes! Snuff the tragic dragon." Miko said cheered.

But then a quiet sound of rocks moving in the fiery debris, followed by the emerging Predacon, which roared to the sky.

"We're toast." Miko groaned.

"We're not going down, not without a fight." Starscream declared.

After spotting them the creature took off in the air as the Decepticons prepared to fight again. But before it could charge again it received a hard impact by two heavy lasers. Next they saw a big cybertronian ship which looked like Decepticon.

"One of ours?" Knock Out asked.

"Does it matter?!" Astraea replied.

"Quick! You four run to the ship! We'll cover you!" Starscream instructed as he and Slipstream changed to their jet forms and took fly.

While the dragon recovered itself, the ship flew above the Decepticons, who made a run to the elevator shaft. The Predacon launched another fireball at them, but it missed before both Seekers launched four missiles that not only hit the creature but also left it blind by the smoke. That allowed all the Decepticons to jump on the shaft and get inside the ship, with Starscream and Slipstream being the last ones in getting in. The ship pulled out before another fireball could hit it and speeded up leaving the Predacon behind. Once inside Astraea aimed her weapon in case the ship's passengers could not be friendly, but she and the others calmed down at seeing two familiar faces.

"Hey."

"Jack!" Miko shouted.

"Flamewar!" Breakdown shouted as well.

Breakdown surprised Flamewar with a bear hug that it could possibly crush her.

"Hi, Breakdown." Flamewar said a little painfully.

Of course, Miko did the same with Jack.

"Miko, can't breathe!" Jack objected.

So Miko released him and punched him in the stomach. "Weakling."

"Thanks for the safe." Astraea said once Breakdown released Flamewar.

"Thank the captain." Flamewar pointed to Dreadwing, who was piloting the ship.

"Soldiers." Dreadwing nodded.

"You?" Slipstream asked surprised, with a face like she wasn't glad to see him.

"Dreadwing? It's an honor." Knock Out said.

"It's an honor, sir." Dreadwing corrected.

"It's good to see you again, captain."

"Likewise, commander." Dreadwing said shaking his hand with Starscream. "It's good to have another officer around."

"Guess blowing that mine made us pretty easy to spot." Knock Out said.

"Dreadwing already had a beat on your signals, and ours. Care to tell us what exactly is nipping at our tailpipes?" Flamewar asked as she saw in a monitor showing the Predacon's silhouette.

"We think is a robot dragon." Miko answered simply.

"Or a cybertronian reptile." Jack deduced.

Indeed, the Predacon continued its hunting by chasing the ship. Dreadwing saw on his monitor that the creature was getting ready to attack again. So when it launched another fireball…

"Brace yourselves!" He warned.

The ship's shakes made Jack and Miko to start to lose their balance, but fortunately Knock Out grabbed them both. Dreadwing took his ship to the clouds trying to lose the Predacon, but the dragon continued chasing it, firing another fireball. Dreadwing not only dodged it, but managed to make a loop, putting the ship behind the Predacon, allowing him to fire at their pursuer. The Predacon received a couple of hits before he started to get away, now with the ship chasing it. Dreadwing continued looking for it on the clouds, until it appeared in front of them and fired again, but this time the fireball hit one of the engines, so the ship descended a little as the creature was chasing it again. It continued firing at them until it managed to catch the ship, something that everyone inside noticed.

"It's right on top of us!" Jack deduced.

The Predacon appeared immediately roaring on one of the windows, making the humans scream. Fortunately Dreadwing saw that his scanners showed a canyon very near from them, so he descended more, entering the canyon. Next he tried to get the Predacon off of his ship hitting it against the canyon's walls. All that shaking was affecting Miko, who looked like she was going to drop her launch. Fortunately Dreadwing speeded up and when he reached the canyon's end he flew up and put upside down the ship in the moment it reached the canyon's top, which confused the creature and it prevented it to see a wall until it was too late, shrieking before it smacked the wall. The impact was strong enough to have the entire canyon wall to crumble down and bury the Predacon, allowing the ship to escape. But moments later, the Predacon managed to free itself from the wreckage, roaring in rage. Meanwhile, in agent Silas office the phone rang, so he pushed the speaker button.

"What is it now, Optimus Prime?" He asked sarcastically.

"Agent Silas, it's Shockwave."

"Shockwave?!" June said. "Where's Jack? Is he with you?"

"No, he's not. Listen, we don't have much time." Shockwave communicated, who was still inside the Harbinger. "We have taken a tremendous yet calculated risk in contacting you. Hopefully the Autobots are not monitoring their own frequencies as closely as they no doubt are of the humans. I am transmitting our current coordinates."

Shockwave typed some buttons before Soundwave entered the ship with urgency.

"Alert, we have company." Soundwave alerted as he showed a ship on his screen.

"What?" Shockwave said surprised.

"Shockwave, have you heard from anyone else? What about Megatron?" Silas asked, but he only heard the sound of hung up.

June and Silas looked each other before June pulled out her phone. "Airachnid, we need you to come with us."

It was Dreadwing's ship which was approaching the Harbinger with the sun rising behind it. Soundwave, Shockwave and Stinger ran outside to see the ship coming. Raf was coming behind them, but Stinger stopped him.

"( **No Raf, you better stay behind.** )" He said.

The ship started its landing.

"It's one of ours." Soundwave recognized as the ship landed in front of them.

The elevator shaft lowered, with Jack and Miko on the front and the Decepticons behind them.

"Raf!" Miko spotted before she ran toward him, just the same as he.

Of course Miko gave him a huge bear hug.

"Girl's got a grip, doesn't she?" Jack observed before embraced Raf.

"You're alive." Shockwave said.

"I'm glad that you managed to remain online in order to help our allies to stay together." Starscream began as the other Decepticons stepped off the platform. "Of course, we have received help too."

Then Starscream stepped aside to reveal their savior.

"Dreadwing?" Shockwave said surprised.

"Soundwave. Shockwave." He answered.

Meanwhile, the Predacon was able to return back to the Autobot fortress.

"The beast didn't manage to complete the hunt?" Wheeljack asked surprised. "Ha, I guess we've overestimated its abilities."

"This must be a great disappointment for you, master." Arcee added while Optimus and the other Autobots watched Perceptor petting and stroking the Predacon.

"And to make things worse, because it cannot speak we have no way of knowing why the Predacon failed so miserably." Bee followed.

"Right. Poor mute, mindless creature." Bulkhead smirked.

"I'm hearing all of you, you fools!" Grimlock shouted as he turned to them and changed to his T-Rex form before walking toward them.

"Eh, commander…"

"Oh no, Arcee. This is your problem." Elita simply said while Smokescreen started to laugh knowing what was coming.

"Do I have to remind you how many times you have failed?!" Grimlock yelled before he roared to them, making some of them scream.

"Okay, we will shut up." Bulkhead answered nervous.

After snorting at them Grimlock returned back with the Predacon.

"Don't listen to them, my friend. They're just jealous of your great power. In my opinion, it's good to have another prehistoric beast around."

The Predacon looked like it listened to Grimlock, before staring at the other Autobots so menacingly for their comments. Back with the Decepticons…

"( **You guys think I overdid it with my new finish?** )" Stinger asked showing his new appearance.

"Are you kidding? The new paint job looks good, Sting." Knock Out judged.

"At least you had something to work with. If I added something to my finish, I would put more flames." Flamewar said.

"That would suit you well." Astraea said.

Meanwhile, the three Decepticon leaders were updating Dreadwing.

"The communications link needs further calibrations to be compatible with Decepticon frequencies. The ground bridge, however, is fully operational." Shockwave informed.

"That would have come in handy when robot dragon was trying to eat us for breakfast." Miko objected while Jack tried to stop her to provoke Dreadwing.

"The indigenous population of this planet, do they all display the same disregard for authority?" Dreadwing asked.

"No. Mostly just Miko." Starscream replied.

Then everyone heard the familiar sound of jet engines, then they spotted a jet flying towards them accompanied by a white helicopter. Not recognizing them, Dreadwing turned his hands into cannons ready to fire.

"No!" Starscream begged.

"Don't shoot!" Knock Out said putting himself on his way.

"It's Silas! He's with us!" Breakdown explained.

"And the other vehicle?" Dreadwing asked.

"It can only be one specify Con." Jack said cheered as he, Miko and Raf ran towards the two vehicles.

The jet landed in front of them while Airachnid changed to her robot form. Very soon all the Decepticons surrounded her, happy to see she was fine, but she really smiled at seeing that Jack was safe and sound. She ran to her partner and embraced him with a huge but cute hug.

"Thank the Allspark. You are fine." Airachnid said.

"You can thank that to Flamewar. She managed to take care of me all this time." Jack explained as Flamewar met with them.

"I already gave my word that one day I will do something that you will be grateful for." She reminded.

"I was wrong about you, Flamewar. You really had proven yourself worthy to protect humankind. So you have earned my respect, and so my trust." Airachnid said shaking her hand with Flamewar's.

"Oh, I'm so jealous, Jack. You already have two Decepticon guardians." Miko groaned.

"And the best of all, both of them are girls." Jack added.

"Speaking of that, there is another girl who wants to see you, Jack." Airachnid said pointing at the jet.

It was June who got off the jet. Once she spotted Jack she ran towards him and embraced him with love.

"Its okay mom, I'm fine." Jack tranquilized.

Jack allowed her mom to hug Raf and Miko too.

"Your families are safe. Agent Silas made sure that Jasper was evacuated in time." June reassured.

"The only signals Dreadwing was able to isolate are standing right here." Flamewar explained.

"Maybe his scanner is faulting." Astraea suggested.

"So the kids are unaccounted for." Breakdown added.

"Kickback was bridged out unaccompanied. Only Megatron knows where." Soundwave remembered.

"And Megatron remained behind to destroy the ground bridge. To ensure that everyone made it to safety." Shockwave followed hardly.

"What?! Are you sure of that?" Starscream demanded.

"I watched the base go down. No one or thing walked out of there." Silas said.

"Not that we can see." June added.

"Even if Megatron survived, I'm not sure we can afford to wait for him to show up. Not with Prime holding our planet hostage from his high and mighty birch at New Iacon." Silas continued.

Dreadwing walked through everyone. "I would be inclined to agree with the native life form. We must stop Optimus Prime, with or without Megatron."

Speaking of Megatron, he was still inside the cavern when Kickback phased through the wall carrying something with him that he latter placed on the floor.

"Megatron, I have the forge. You can use it to repair yourself."

"That…is not the reason…I had you retrieve the relic." Megatron answered.

"What? I don't understand."

"The power of the forge…is not unlimited. Its energy has already begun…to ebb." Megatron explained.

"So it's running low. Who cares? All we need is enough juice to get you back into fighting shape."

"Whatever power remains…must be used…to rebuild the Omega Lock…to restore Cybertron."

"But that would mean…" Kickback realized worried.

"The fate of all our kind…is more vital…than that of anyone of us…including…me."

Back with the main Decepticon group…

"We must do everything in our power to ensure Optimus Prime's downfall. But we will need to be smart about it." Dreadwing started.

"Whoa! Who put big plane in command?" Slipstream objected.

"Temporary command." Jack corrected.

"Slipstream has a point. According with our chain of command, Starscream should be the one in charge in Megatron's absence." Knock Out pointed, making Slipstream smile.

"Although in that you are right, Dreadwing was captain of the Seeker armada, and one of Megatron's most loyal and veteran warriors, more even than me. So, I believe a better option could be a joint leadership." Starscream clarified.

"I agree. Now unless there is any further objection, soldier." Dreadwing said looking at Slipstream. "Please, follow me."

Dreadwing went to the platform followed by the other Decepticons.

"Aye aye, captain." Slipstream said sarcastically.

Back inside, Dreadwing moved to the very back of the ship and pressed a button on the wall. That revealed a secret compartment of weapons and munitions.

"Decepticons, take your pick." He said stepping aside.

"Now you're speaking my language, sir." Astraea said surprised.

Back in the caves…

"Megatron, the forge is a relic of the Primes. We can't use it to restore Cybertron, not without a true Prime. Not without you, you are the only one of our team with that kind of power. Besides without you our case will not be the same as now." Kickback objected.

"That...is a problem… that is already solved."

"What? No matter. We'll worry about that after we get you patched up and we take down Optimus." Kickback said as he was going to grab the forge, but Megatron grabbed his hand.

"The leadership…of our cause…is not something that can be lost easily. Because in my spark…I believe that anyone can achieve leadership…even you." Megatron declared, leaving Kickback without words.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter Fifty Five- Counterattack**

Inside the Decepticon ship the Harbinger, the Decepticon team was getting ready for the assault against New Iacon.

"Decepticons, we remain vastly outnumbered in despite our munitions. They don't currently possess the firepower necessary to compromise the Autobot citadel." Starscream declared.

"The USA military does. I just can't let them make a move as long as Prime's big guns are pointing at Washington." Silas said.

"Then we must infiltrate New Iacon in order to nullify its energetic particle cannons." Dreadwing suggested.

"Unfortunately, it seems the fortress is heavily shielded against unauthorized ground bridges." Soundwave analyzed seeing the energy schematics of the fortress.

"Even those originating from Autobot technology." Shockwave added.

"Guess we'll have to sneak past enemy lines, Seeker style." Slipstream suggested.

"I couldn't deal with Seeker style back on Cybertron, and I refuse to deal with it here." Dreadwing objected, upsetting Slipstream.

"First we require a means of thinning the Autobot ranks to even the odds if we're to have any hope of completing this mission. Or surviving it." Starscream said.

At the same time, inside the caverns near the former Decepticon base…

"I…I can't do this. I mean sure, who wouldn't want to be leader. But I'm really not ready for that kind of responsibility. Just imagine an Insecticon leader of all the Decepticons, its ridiculous!"

"Kickback, the choice is neither yours…or mine. When it is time…the Matrix of Leadership…will present itself only to one…who's spark is worthy." Megatron told.

Meanwhile the team started the plan. First Jack was in the same abandoned gas station where Airachnid and Breakdown recovered the polarity gauntlet.

"Because it worked so well last time." He said pulling out his phone and sending another message.

That was detected inside the Ark by the Autobots who were monitoring all communications.

"I knew the humans couldn't resist using their telecommunications." Bumblebee smirked.

"That is all they seem to do. And no one is more recognizable than this, Jack." Arcee said looking the screen. "This time I'll catch him and his partner. Squad, move out!"

Arcee went accompanied by a small squadron of Autobot soldiers and motorcycles. Fortunately the Harbinger's monitor detected that too.

"I have five bogies converging right on top of Jack." Raf saw.

"Not anymore." Soundwave said as he opened the ground bridge and Jack returned and gave him the thumbs up.

"Miko, your turn." Shockwave said through his com-link.

Miko stood inside a safe spot in New York. She opened her phone and…

"Hello? Any two large pies. Sicilian. You deliver, right?"

The Autobots detected that too.

Grimlock laughed. "Humans. Wreckers, stand by ground bridge."

But Blaster grabbed Grimlock's shoulder and pointed to the screen.

"Blaster, why can't you accept a little good fortune?" Grimlock said.

"Yeah, the Decepticons couldn't possibly stay hidden forever. Come on, Bulk. Let's take care of this." Wheeljack said as he and Bulkhead left with a group of Autobot tanks and heavy soldiers, while Blaster face palmed himself disappointed.

At the same time Miko returned to the Harbinger.

"I really could have used that pizza." She mumbled.

"We have tapped into the Autobot communications network. Are you ready, Jack?" Shockwave asked.

Jack cleared his throat. "Autobot command, do you read me?" He spoke in his deepest voice possible.

There was an awkward silence.

"I remained unconvinced." Dreadwing expressed.

"I will enhance your performance with static." Soundwave reassured.

In the Ark…

"Autobot command, do you read? We are under Decepticon attack!" Jack said through the com-link.

"It's one of our energon mines. Insectobots, prepare for battle!" Grimlock instructed.

The Harbinger detected the Insectobot swarm movement too.

"They have fallen into our trick. The time is now!" Starscream proclaimed.

"Decepticons, lock and load!" Dreadwing encouraged.

"How nice it feels to have flamethrowers again!" Flamewar said cheered checking a couple of new weapons inserted in her arms.

Flamewar wasn't the only who got new weapons: Stinger held a portable shield and a neutron assault rifle; Breakdown had an energon rocket cannon; Airachnid held a laser handgun; Astraea held a lighting whip; Knock Out revealed that he recovered the force field generator; Starscream now carried more missiles on his arms while Slipstream's missiles looked bigger. Now everyone was ready to fight, so the ground bridge awaited open for them. At the same time, Silas a few other pilots waited for the right moment inside their jets in a military base.

"Keep the engines warm, soldiers. We'll launch the moment Dreadwing gives the all clear." He instructed.

But there was more for the Autobots who answered to the baits. Arcee got ahead of her squad looking any signal of Jack or Airachnid, but when she thought she had found something she fell into a hidden hole. The troops found her, trapped again with webs.

"Curse you, Airachnid." She said.

The Wreckers did the same, but there was no trace of Miko. Then Bulkhead spotted something suspicious, but at the moment he touched it a lot of paint canisters were launched against the Wreckers. Next they were lying weakened and dizzy covered in multiple colors.

"I hate these human jokes." Bulk groaned.

Meanwhile, inside an energon mine, the Autobot miners were doing their routine until the sound of Insectobot shrieks got their attention. They came swarming into the mine, making two miners to look each other in confusion.

"There must be some mistake, general Grimlock. The mine is not under attack." One of the miners reported to the Ark.

That let Grimlock stunned. "What?! How can that…?"

"Grimlock! Explain why my forces are scattering across this globe." Optimus demanded as he saw the troop's movement.

"Uh, renegade Decepticon mischief, Optimus Prime. I am in the process of deducing how they are infiltrating our communications systems without a base of…" Grimlock said before Blaster interrupted him showing on his face visor the Decepticon ship.

"The Harbinger!" Bumblebee said.

Optimus slowly turned towards the Dinobot. "You left abandoned Decepticon technology fully operational and unsecured?!"

"Uh…I…eh. Allow me to correct my oversight immediately." Grimlock answered. "Aerobot armada to the flight deck."

Immediately a huge group of Aerobots and heavy air soldiers prepared to fight.

"Your target is the Decepticon ship the Harbinger. You are to obliterate it at once." Grimlock ordered through the com-link. Moments later they were in their positions. "The armada is in position. Open a ground bridge to the Harbinger." He asked to Blaster.

Suddenly everyone felt some little shakes, alongside readings of some damaged places of the citadel.

"Except it would seem that New Iacon is presently under attack!" Elita One translated.

"Kindly redirect all efforts toward ensuring that our invaders are eradicated!" Optimus ordered.

Meanwhile, outside…

"Fire in another hole!" Astraea said launching a grenade that hit the citadel.

After the explosion Astraea charged at the citadel, followed by Breakdown and Knock Out. The Aerobot armada transformed and flew down firing against the Decepticons. Breakdown responded firing his new heavy weapon, taking down a couple of Aerobots; Knock Out pulled out his electric staff and fired it, but now it launched a storm of lighting that hit a lot of enemies, revealing that he improved it, covering himself and the others with his shield; Astraea activated the lightening whip and swung it, extending the string of energy into the air, destroying three Aerobots. Next they activated their guns before they transformed and drove toward the citadel. An Autobot helicopter was watching the battle far from there, then he felt someone tapping on his back, so he looked back to see Airachnid, Flamewar and Stinger, who slammed his fist to the Autobot's face. The Ark continued feeling shakes.

"Don't worry, master, we have everything under control." Bee said, making Optimus to turn to him growling mad because it wasn't true.

"Optimus." Perceptor said stepping in. "I accept that military considerations are outside of my domain, but perhaps it is once again time to release the Predacon."

The three Decepticons continued driving to the citadel with the Aerobot armada behind them, but them a storm of missiles took down a lot of them, making them turning around right where the missiles came from: the Seekers. It was Starscream who launched all those missiles, and then Slipstream launched one of her new big missiles that caused a big explosion once it hit one of the Aerobots, stunning them. With the Seekers earning the Aerobots' attention, the Breakdown, Knock Out and Astraea continued their way without problem until something caught their attention, making them to return to their robot form. Mysteriously all the Aerobots retired from the battle and returned to the Ark. Then they saw the Predacon crawling on top of the Ark. The creature roared and took flight and headed against them. They fired at it, but it evaded all the shots, until one bigger hit it. It was Dreadwing with his ship that shot at the Predacon, catching its attention. The creature was getting close to the ship, something that he noticed.

"Soundwave, now!" He yelled.

Then Soundwave, came from the ship in his vehicle mode and flew towards the Predacon, forcing the creature to do the same. And then Soundwave opened a ground bridge behind him and pulled up at the last second. The Predacon, however, flew straight through it. The portal sent it to the Arctic, and a blizzard made it to crash land on the snowy terrain. It roared angry as it froze instantly. That was spotted even inside the Ark.

"Oh well, I didn't see that coming." Bee taunted.

Perceptor said no word as he turned around and walked away.

"Yes, that's right. Go off and sulk, why don't you." Cliffjumper followed.

Grimlock made them to shut up roaring, but he was roaring by other thing.

"That's enough! Fear nothing, my liege. Maybe they have got rid of the dragon, but now they will have to face the dinosaur." Grimlock offered.

"Then hunt them down, Grimlock." Optimus authorized smirking.

"Then I will accompany you." Perceptor added.

Both Autobots got out of the Ark and jumped down to the lower roof top. At the same time, inside the caverns…

"Who…stands…before me?" Megatron asked.

"What? It's me, Megatron. Kickback."

"Who…beckons…?" Megatron asked again as his optics began to blink.

The reason Megatron was saying that was because inside his mind he was walking through the darkness towards a light.

"Come, Megatron." A sweet female voice said.

"It is truly you?" Megatron asked as he recognized the figure of a tall, beautiful cybertronian with very long hair. "Solus Prime."

"I stand before you, my brother's student. As such, it would seem that it is your time." She confirmed, but Megatron lowered his head. "Why do you hesitate?"

"I do not fear joining with the Allspark, but for the fate of the Matrix of Leadership. I still have not recovered it from the clutches of Optimus."

"You know as well as I that leadership is not reduced only to the matrix, and that one day your friends will manage to recover the matrix and restore the true Primes' lineage." Solus reassured.

Meanwhile, back to the battle, Dreadwing circle his ship around and headed to New Iacon.

"Dreadwing to stealth team. Status report."

"Having a little trouble reaching the objective." Airachnid answered.

Airachnid, alongside Stinger and Flamewar were in a corridor inside the fortress, in middle of a firefight against some Autobot soldiers, heavy soldiers and a few tanks. Thanks to the shield, Stinger was able to deflect the shots and fire without danger, while Airachnid used her laser handgun to hit the farthest Autobots. Some troops tried to get them from behind, but Flamewar changed her laser guns to her flamethrowers and blocked the way with a fire wall, burning all the Autobots who tried to pass through.

"Security is tighter than anticipated, sir." Airachnid reported.

"Keep them occupied." Dreadwing instructed before he activated another link. "Soundwave, I'm going in. I need you to deactivate the security cameras in order to make the things harder for the Autobots."

"Affirmative."

Soundwave flew toward the fortress security room. There were not many guards, so he simply eliminated them with his tentacles and shooting a few with his laser guns. Immediately he connected his tentacles to one of the terminals, but before he could do anything the screen turned off. He saw that the reason why the terminal didn't work is was because Blaster disconnected it. Both rivals looked each other with rage and started battling in close combat. At the same time, Dreadwing approximated his ship near the energy core's room. He exited the ship carrying a big cannon with both hands as the ship left with the autopilot. He jumped to the window firing his cannon, taking down an Autobot engineer. After finishing with other two and preventing the third from escaping he aimed his cannon at the power source, but a shot cause him to lose grip of the weapon, which fell to the other side of the room.

"Dreadwing."

Then Elita One jumped down to his level.

"For a moment I believed you were Skyquake, but of course I remember that one of my strongest warriors managed to snuff off his spark long time ago. Allow me to venture, you intent to disarm our energetic particle cannons by disabling their power core." She realized looking at the power core.

"Indeed, Elita." Dreadwing said as he turned his hands into cannons. "And you are standing in my way."

Dreadwing charged against the female Autobot leader. Meanwhile, Grimlock already landed on the floor with strength. He saw Breakdown, Knock Out and Astraea taking down more and more Aerobots and Autobot helicopters, so he took the chance: he transformed into his Tyrannosaurus form while Perceptor landed above him and charged against them roaring.

"Uh-oh, its Grimlock!" Breakdown spotted.

"Scrap." Astraea cursed.

The Dinobot started to launch fire from his mouth at them, but they didn't saw coming a shot from Perceptor's shoulder cannon. Both Breakdown and Astraea received the impact that knocked them. Knock Out tried to hit Perceptor with his upgraded staff, but Grimlock shot a fireball that exploded near him, knocking him too.

"Fool Decepticons, you never had a chance against my creations." Perceptor smirked.

Optimus saw that the Seekers decided to weaken the fortress's structure with their missiles, so he activated his jet-pack and took fly toward them. He managed to tackle Starscream enough to take him down, but Slipstream was still flying, and now she was the one who was chasing Prime firing her laser guns. Suddenly she lost him, so she changed to her robot form and inspected every place as she was in the air thanks to her engine on the back. But then she saw Prime above her, pulling out something from his back, a machine gun and fired at her. The shots were so strong that sent her back to the ground, fortunately Starscream grabbed her in time before Grimlock pushed him down with his foot. Inside the fortress, the stealth team was still battling the remaining Autobots. Suddenly they heard that they stopped firing, and next they saw a lot of Autobot troops surrounding them from behind and blocking their escape route, with leapers in front.

"Scrap." Flamewar cursed.

Up in the power core, Dreadwing fired his cannons, but Elita grabbed his hands and made him miss before kicking him. Next she fired her own guns, but Dreadwing did the same before kicking her back first on her leg and next on her chest. She tried to hold him back grabbing his hands again before she simply head-butted him. That made Dreadwing skid across the room and hit the wall behind him. Elita shot with her big cannon, but missed, so Dreadwing shot at her shoulder. She charged against him, but he grabbed her by the neck. And of course Dreadwing was stronger than her, so he was able to raise her, but then they heard a sound of jet engines, and then Optimus Prime came flying with his jet-pack and slammed his fist hard on Dreadwing's face. The Seeker released Elita and collapsed to the floor.

"A very timely entry." She said.

"Dreadwing, you are not Megatron." Optimus said.

The air assault team was still waiting.

"What in the name of God is taking them so long?" Silas asked himself.

In New Iacon, Optimus was dragging Dreadwing in his throne platform, alongside Elita One and Ratchet. He roughly tossed him to the floor, reawakening him.

"All invaders have been taken captive, master." Ratchet reported.

"What about Soundwave?"

"Fear nothing, Elita. Blaster told me that he's taking care of him." Ratchet told.

"And there was no sign of Megatron." Elita noticed.

"So tell us, captain, where might your leader be?" Optimus asked to Dreadwing.

Speaking about Megatron, he was still with Solus.

"Take my hand, Megatron, and join me. Join with the Allspark." The female Prime said.

Megatron thought about the choice before he walked closer to Solus Prime and reached his arm out. He paused and looked at Solus in the optics.

"Megatron! No!" Kickback begged.

And finally Megatron's optics powered off, the same as all his body. Then his chest opened revealing a warm light inside his body, but it was not his spark.

"This isn't how the story's supposed to end." Kickback said before looking at the forge.

He dragged the forge and placed it on Megatron's hand. It reacted to the power of the matrix and unleashed an unknown wave of energy and a bright light that surrounded Megatron and pushed back Kickback. Meanwhile, on New Iacon…

"I will not ask again!" Optimus shouted.

Dreadwing looked back at the Autobot leader. "If I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

"Very well." Optimus said before he changed his hand by an axe, revealing that he had new melee weapons. "Execute our prisoners and fire each cannon to the nearest metropolis within its sights. It is time to show the known universe that this planet belongs to Optimus Prime."

While Optimus spoke, Elita walked a few steps forward as she noticed something on the horizon. "Dear, something's coming."

Optimus looked at the direction his sparkmate was looking, seeing something too. Meanwhile down below, Grimlock, Perceptor, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper reunited all the Decepticon prisoners.

"What should we do with them?" Cliff asked.

"I said we dispose of them the way we desire, especially the ones we wanted." Bee said pulling out his weapons.

"( **Look, something is coming.** )" Stinger said looking at the same thing from the sky.

Whatever that figure was, it was approaching the fortress fast.

"The Predacon?" Elita asked.

"Hm, not big enough, and I certainly don't think it could be a Seeker." Ratchet deduced.

The same as the Autobots, Dreadwing tried to see too. That was detected too inside the Harbinger.

"How is that possible?" Shockwave asked looking at the screen.

"What?" Jack asked.

"A Decepticon signal, and its airborne. But its energy readings, it's something I've never seen." Shockwave explained.

The strange thing was getting closer to the fortress, enough to see some color details.

"That's weird. I don't recognize any cybertronian with that color scheme." Ratchet saw.

Optimus's optics widen as he recognized who that figure was: it was Megatron. But he had changed: big spikes came from his shoulders, which were golden; his head now had little spikes which looked like a crown; his fingers now were longer; his body looked stronger ( **Galvatron's Predacons Rising version** ) and now it was more colorful: his head, chest, arms and the Decepticon emblem now were red, while his legs and waist now showed a shiny black, still with some parts silver. He was flying thanks to two engines from his back, and it was charging right against them.

"Megatron?" Elita said in disbelief.

"What? He can't fly in robot form. True?" Ratchet asked to Optimus.

Immediately after landing Megatron punched Optimus two times and the third punch was so strong that sent him to the throne, destroying it. The Autobot helicopters present fired at him, but Megatron pulled out on his right arm an advanced fusion cannon ( **Megatron's fusion cannon of Revenge of The Fallen** ) and fired two shots that evaporated the Autobots very easily. Elita changed her hands for swords and ran towards Megatron, but he grabbed her with only a few fingers and threw her out of the platform. Ratchet was distracted, enough for Dreadwing to punch him with an uppercut, knocking him out. Immediately Megatron noticed the new Seeker.

"Captain?"

"Sir, you are looking…robust. It is paramount that we disable the energetic particle cannons below." Dreadwing reported.

"Understood." Megatron answered as he took fly again.

"All units, lord Megatron has returned." Dreadwing told through the com-link.

Everyone in the Harbinger cheered happy after hearing that.

"Yes!" Jack yelled.

"Awesome!" Miko followed.

"Sweet!" Raf added.

"Thank the Allspark!" Shockwave said.

"I repeat. Megatron is alive and quite well." Dreadwing repeated.

That was heard by agent Silas too.

"Yes! All pilots, the time is now. Let's show them what we're able to."

Even the captive Decepticons received that.

"What do you think? Do we help our leader win this battle?" Starscream smiled.

Astraea nodded as she pulled out her chainsaw swords and hit the Autobot next to her. As the other Decepticons were busy with the rest, she and Breakdown charged against Perceptor. Of course, Grimlock put himself on their way, but someone climbed above.

"What?!"

"What's wrong, Dinobot? You don't want to play with the professionals?" Slipstream mocked as she put her hands on his eyes.

"Get off of me, I can't see where I'm going!" Grimlock shouted, not realizing that he was smashing the other Autobots, even Bee and Cliff were caught when Stinger and Knock Out pushed them.

"How I hate this." Bumblebee said with pain.

"What are you going to tell me, pal?" Cliffjumper added.

With Grimlock busy with Slipstream, who managed to engage herself to Grimlock with her electrified whips, Astraea and Breakdown continued advancing toward Perceptor. He tried to stop them firing his shoulder cannon, but they managed to evade the shots and Astraea kicked him on the chest. But he pushed her back and evaded Breakdown's hammer before pushing him back too. On top of the fortress, Optimus emerged from the rubble of his throne while Ratchet recovered as well. At the same moment Ratchet saw Dreadwing getting back to his ship. Seeing Megatron in the air, Optimus roared in anger before he followed him with his own jet-pack. Megatron flew in front of one of the cannons and prepared his weapon to fire.

"MMMEEEGGGAAATTTRRROOOOONNNNNNN!" Optimus shouted flying at him changing his hands into two laser cannons and firing them.

One of the shots hit Megatron and sent him down while Optimus followed him. Optimus continued chasing his nemesis through the citadel, trying to hit him. But when he did it, Megatron turned and fired his cannon, forcing Optimus to evade. Elita One returned to the top of the citadel where Ratchet was seeing the chase.

"My lady, a cluster of enemy signals, incoming!" One officer reported.

That made Ratchet growl. "Humans. Activate the energetic particle cannons."

The Autobot troops started to charge the superweapons, while the jet squadron was approaching.

"Sky Strikers, await my command." Silas ordered.

Megatron continued dodging Optimus's shots, until he speeded up, forcing Optimus to do the same, but then he stopped and waited for when Optimus close enough and punched him on the face. Next he grabbed Optimus by his jet-pack's wings and spun around.

"Optimus… be gone!" Megatron said at the moment when he threw him back, sending him to the power core's room, right into the core.

The energy reaction with Optimus caused the entire room to explode, shutting down the cannons. Megatron saw the jets coming and flew away.

"Decepticons, clear the area!" Dreadwing ordered.

That was heard from Soundwave, who was still battling with Blaster. Blaster took chance of his distraction and opened a ground bridge. Next he took out of it the Resonance Blaster and put it on his hand, with intention of use it. But before he could fire it, Soundwave sent Laserbeak to fire his rival from above them as he took out something from his waist. Next he threw it at Blaster, exploding on his visor. But it wasn't a bomb of any kind; it was simply a paint canister. But it was enough to blind Blaster long enough so he could take the sonic weapon and leave in his vehicle form. His escape route took him to the ground bridge that Blaster opened, which led him to the Ark's relic room. As he prepared to blow the door, he spotted a strange sword in one of the front containers. So after blowing the door he grabbed it with one of his tentacles, so he carried with him when he left the warship.

"Thanks a lot, Miko." Soundwave expressed before he joined Dreadwing's ship after recovering Laserbeak.

The other Cons received the warming too. Stinger, Knock Out and Flamewar transformed first, followed by Airachnid, who managed to shot enough web to keep Grimlock stuck, allowing Slipstream to transform and leave alongside her brother. Perceptor managed to knock Astraea and Breakdown, unfortunately that left him open to Knock Out as he drove over him. While he saw the Decepticons driving away, Astraea jumped on his back before transforming and joining the others while Perceptor, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper tried to shot them. At the same time…

"Let's do this." Silas announced.

All the jets fired missiles that hit the top of the citadel, something that Perceptor, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper and Grimlock, who finally managed to free himself from the webs, spotted.

"I don't know about you but, I would leave before the rubble hit the ground." Cliff pointed as some rumble started to fall above them.

"Blaster, we require a ground bridge." Perceptor called through his com-link.

The Autobots passed through the portal and it closed before the rubble hit the ground. In the power core's room, Elita found Optimus barely recovered.

"Transport Optimus Prime to the warship." She ordered.

A couple of Autobot tanks got Optimus on his feet.

"What are you doing? No! We will not retreat!" Optimus objected.

"This battle is lost, dear. We must retreat if we are to have any hope of winning the war. Ratchet, prepare the medical bay." Elita instructed by com-link as they made their way to the ship.

Kickback was flying toward the fortress, but then he returned to his robot form and saw the fortress being destroyed.

"Aw, I missed it!" He groaned.

The Ark pulled away from the dock bridge before the entire citadel went down. Minutes later, all the Decepticons and their human allies were inside one of the warehouse of the military base.

"On behalf of the president and the joint chiefs, I thank you all for your selfless heroism in defense of this planet. I'm only sorry that the world can't yet know of your undying dedication. Because I, for one, owe you my life, my liberty and my future." Silas pronounced after saluting, and Megatron nodded.

"My liege, I am honored to relinquish command of the Decepticons to you."

"Welcome to Earth, Dreadwing. And to our team." Megatron said.

"Okay, someone's got to say it: Megatron 2.0 is rad."

"Please Miko, that really doesn't sound good." Jack objected.

"Hum, you're right. This new form deserves a new name. Something innovator, something great. Something that means better, evolved." Miko suggested as she started to think about it. "I think I got it, what about Galvatron?"

Starscream simply laughed. "Good try Miko, but there's no way our leader is going to accept such proposal."

"Actually Starscream, I think Miko may be right."

"Sure, the name sounds good after all." Knock Out supported.

"Sounds greater than Megatron." Flamewar added.

"But master, why?" Starscream asked.

"I think we all want to know why." Dreadwing followed.

"When I was at the death's door, almost ready to join the Allspark, the forge reacted with me in a way that has never been seen before. The matrix's power not only gave me a second chance, but also means to complete what I was destined to accomplish. That marked a new beginning, something that deserves an improved identity. So I believe the name suits me perfectly. And I want that the efforts that marked this change would not be in vain."

Even that he didn't see that coming, Starscream accepted what his leader decided. "As you wish, Lord Galvatron."

"Awesome. Imagine what the forge could do for you, Shockwave." Miko continued.

"Well." Shockwave said as he looked the forge. "Is it true the forge has been drained of its power?" He asked looking at Kickback. "Then any hope of rebuilding the Omega Lock has truly been lost."

"I…did what I felt was right." Kickback expressed.

"And your instincts have again proven to be quite sound." Shockwave congratulated.

Kickback looked him back and smiled before joining with the reunited team.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter Fifty Six- Beast Hunters**

It was night when Galvatron was waiting inside one of the base warehouses. Then Shockwave and Soundwave arrived.

"Lord Galvatron, Soundwave and I have been thinking of a proper new vehicle form. Giving your new body structure, we think this is the most appropriate model." Shockwave explained as he showed a hologram of a new version of a cybertronian jet. "We decided to upgrade your old vehicle form, making it more similar to your new configuration."

"Thank you, old friends. This will most certainly do." Galvatron thanked before he commenced to scan the hologram, taking it as his new vehicle mode.

Meanwhile that happened, a small convoy leaded by agent Silas was arriving to the base, carrying a big new vehicle. However, during the travel, someone managed to scan the vehicle. It could only see that it was some muscle car that left immediately once it finished. The next day, the Decepticons finally managed to establish their new base of operations inside one of the military base's warehouses. They even managed to create other ground bridge, and now they were testing it.

"Return trajectory fluctuations have been stabilized!" Raf reported.

Soundwave nodded. "Dreadwing, we are ready to receive you."

A modified Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jet came through the portal carrying an energon box. Once Stinger took it, it transformed, revealing that it was Dreadwing new alt mode. Next he approached all the present Decepticons.

"What's the situation?" Starscream demanded.

"As bad as we thought, commander. We didn't find much else in the rubble of the former base." Dreadwing informed.

Then Slipstream emerged from the vortex, carrying a lob-ball. "You guys call this not much else?"

Without warning she threw the ball right at Astraea. However, she wasn't prepared and the ball bounced off her chest plating and directly to Miko. Fortunately Jack pulled her out of the way on time, so the ball slammed the wall.

"Oh, not again." Starscream said looking down.

"Slipstream, you could have caused serious damage!" Shockwave scold.

"To me!" Miko added.

But the worst thing was that the ball slammed just where agent Silas's office was. He was inside when the ball impact sent him to the floor.

"What in the world?" He asked as he walked to the door, which was broken with the surrounding wall; and when he opened it saw the exit blocked by the ball. "A little help here?!"

"What were you thinking, soldier?" Dreadwing demanded.

"That Astraea catch that lob." Slipstream simply answered.

"Allow me to make myself clear: as Galvatron's third in command, I have no intention of tolerating Seeker behavior."

"Some things never change." Starscream muttered noticing the growing tension between Slipstream and Dreadwing, something that the other Decepticons also noticed.

"Slipstream, please…" Starscream started.

"Allow me, commander." Dreadwing interrupted before turning at Slipstream. "Need I remind you that it was Megatron himself who assigned me to command your Seekers back on Cybertron. And get your loose cannons under control. An effective combat unit begins with discipline. If you won't accept that, feel free to choose the path of least resistance…as you did before."

"If my ship weren't a twisted wreck at present, I'd do that. Sir. If it wasn't for my brother, for not being alone." She answered before she passed through everyone and left, leaving Starscream worried.

So he sighed before turning to the others. "So, any word from Galvatron?"

"He's investigating recent Autobot activity." Soundwave reported.

"Hopefully an energon mine." Knock Out added.

Galvatron was testing his new alt mode flying above the clouds, until he reached the location point. Once he was close enough he realized that his new alt form was too big to pass the entrance.

"Hmm."

So he changed to his robot form and started exploring the caves' inside. Meanwhile, in the base…

"How rad would it be if you all had improved bodies like Galvatron?" Miko asked.

"Indeed, Miko. Quite rad." Knock Out agreed as he was working.

"But the forge has been depleted of its power to do that." Shockwave reminded.

"Now it's only good for bounding out dents." Breakdown pointed.

Then everyone heard a sound of buzzing and bug shriek, and a very recognizable metallic bug entered flying and landed in front of everyone.

"Kickback?" Airachnid said.

The bug transformed, so it was Kickback.

"Aw! What gave me away?" He asked disappointed, earning a serious face.

"Hey Kickback, what about the new look?" Flamewar asked, seeing that Kickback was now completely light green.

"Come on! Robots in disguise, right?" He answered before Dreadwing approached him.

"Where have you been, soldier?" He asked.

"Scanning new war paint. Thought it would be proactive to follow lord Galvatron's lead, and Stinger's." Kickback answered while Stinger heard him.

"( **I just only did it to survive.** )"

"Now you can look your best while stacking those empty cubes." Dreadwing ordered.

"Yes sir." Kickback answered. "I had my chance to lead, but somehow I'm still the newbie." He quietly said to himself.

"What was that about a leader?" Starscream asked, revealing that he caught some of his words.

"Uh, read. I need to read the procedure of how to stop being a newbie." Kickback lied as he went to help Stinger.

Airachnid went next to Shockwave. "Kickback was the only one who went back. If it wasn't for him, Galvatron might not be with us today."

"Airachnid, we were under the strictest of orders. Some of you have your human partners to protect, but we are fortunate that Kickback is inexperienced enough to not follow protocol." Shockwave said.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, two Autobot miners were operating the mining drills, protected by a small group of Insectobots and an Autobot tank. The miners reversed the drills allowing the tank to look inside the hole.

"There! I can see it." He said.

Inside the hole was some kind of skull. The Autobot was about to grab it when…

"Abandon the excavation! Now!"

It was Galvatron in his vehicle form, who speeded up towards them.

"Attack!" The tank ordered, so four Insectobots transformed and flew against Galvatron, including a Bruiser.

But Galvatron's new alt mode even had improved weapons. He fired two powerful laser cannons, which destroyed the Bruiser's head; and launched a missile that divided in multiple missiles that took down all four Insectobots. Other two charged at foot firing, so Galvatron serpentine, hitting one of the bugs. Then he returned to his robot form before throwing an uppercut on the last bug. As it was getting up, Galvatron pulled out his new fusion cannon and left a huge hole on the Insectobot's chest. The Autobot tank tried to grab the skull, but it broke it and only grab a piece. While the miners were knocked by Galvatron, who turned his left hand into a gladiator bowler and hit them both; he simply jumped over the drills and left through a hole in the ceiling. Despite that, Galvatron could see what the Autobot could not take. Moments later, he used a ground bridge to return to base.

"Galvatron, did you find energon?" Knock Out asked.

"No. But I did uncover this." He answered placing on a table the skull.

"It cannot be!" Starscream exclaimed getting a close look.

"Be what?" Jack asked.

"The ancient remains…of a Predacon." Shockwave answered.

"Thought it remains unclear why such a skull would be found on your planet, its presence reveals all too much about the Predacon which Optimus recently sent in pursuit of us." Starscream said.

"You meant that dragon Bot we put on ice?" Miko asked.

"Affirmative. Except that Predacons have been extinct since…" Soundwave started.

"Since before most life began on Cybertron." Astraea finished.

"They're like Earth's dinosaurs." Raf noticed.

"Which means for you guys running into one would be like us meeting an organic version of Grimlock." Jack added.

"Yeah, it's something they share." Knock Out said.

"So, they were like Grimlock and his Dinobots?" Miko asked.

"Totally different. But they were terrible prehistoric beasts too." Breakdown answered.

"With Prime seeing new interest in the excavation of prehistoric skeletons." Starscream started.

"And a certain scientist back among the Autobot ranks." Shockwave continued crushing his fist.

"It would stand to reason that Perceptor cloned the beast from one such find." Galvatron finished.

"And now Prime's looking to clone another." Dreadwing added.

"What makes you think the big O will stop at just one?" Slipstream pointed.

"We could have a beast wars on our hands!" Kickback said.

"And if Perceptor only requires a single strand of CNA from which to clone a beast." Shockwave continued.

"He already possesses what he needs to engender this one." Galvatron reported. "Decepticons, we must become beast hunters."

"One thing still doesn't follow." Flamewar pointed. "Predacons went extinct on Cybertron. So what would their bones be doing here?"

In that moment, the Autobot tank delivered the bone back to his leaders inside the Ark.

"On Earth?!" Bulkhead asked surprised. "I mean, isn't it just a little preposterous?!"

"That's because they are not the remains of Predacons, Bulkhead. But rather, the remains of Predacon clones." Elita explained as Perceptor scanned the bone.

"Huh? How is that possible?" Arcee asked.

"For you see: our recent Decepticon hunter wasn't the first beastly super soldier Perceptor ever attempted to breed from prehistoric matter." Optimus narrated.

A flashback showed Perceptor's lab full with active stasis container pods, each one with a Predacon waiting to rise.

"During the war for Cybertron, I sanctioned a dispatch of a small army of these Predacon clones to Earth. To unleash the beasts on unwitty Decepticon forces stationed here." Optimus continued.

The next flashback showed an entire group of Predacon of all kinds chasing the Decepticons on Earth's ancient times.

"Once they accomplished their mission, the surviving Predacons held sentinel on this very world for ages to come. Guarding the energon reserves they've managed to secure, while awaiting my arrival."

The last image showed the surviving creatures stood on a ocean cliff, looking at the sunset.

"Of course, our reunion here was much delayed and it would seem we have lost the beasts to the ravages of time." Ratchet deduced.

"But not their endo-matter, from which I am gladly able to extract their very CNA." Perceptor added holding the bone.

"Pfft, another scavenger hunt? How many possibilities do we have in locating all the dusty remains of your former pets?" Wheeljack asked.

"You are not suggesting that I would send my creations to a distant planet without first having them microchipped?" Perceptor asked, leaving Wheeljack without answer.

"Ha, that's Perceptor, taking care of all details. But seriously, you did?" Grimlock asked.

"Hi there!"

"Smokescreen! This is a high ranked reunion, what is the meaning of this intrusion?!" Ratchet demanded.

"Uh, well… Sorry for that, but I came to see our liege for something that might interest him."

"Hm." Optimus said interested. "And what exactly is it?"

Then Smokescreen showed an image of the same vehicle from the convoy.

"When I was out on one of my free travels, I discovered a secret human convoy which was delivering some kind of prototype of a new heavy vehicle, and because you still don't have a new proper vehicle form I thought of the possibility of getting it as an option for you to use."

Ratchet sighed. "Don't be ridiculous. We're still looking for a good design that could fix our leader well."

Optimus was a little upset about the idea that he mentioned that he still didn't have a new vehicle form compatible with his new body, but the vehicle caught his attention.

"What do you know about that vehicle?"

"Not much. The only thing I heard from the humans is that is an experimental, all-terrain, expeditionary fighting vehicle. Maybe it is a prototype, but is armed and that's the only one completely built."

That made him smirked. "Then it will serve me well. Thank you for this little compliment, Smokescreen."

"I live to serve you, lord Optimus Prime."

"Dear, are you sure about that?"

"If Smokescreen went through the danger of stealing a secret human super vehicle to complete my configuration, surely it will be worth it. Besides, it will be satisfying to use a good human weapon against them, something to rival Megatron's new power." Optimus proclaimed as he started to scan his new vehicle form.

Back to the Decepticon base, the team was seeing a lot of pictures of all kinds of dragons.

"This is all the information we have from our historical texts." Soundwave reported.

"But those are metal versions of creatures from our Greek mythology and medieval literature." Jack recognized.

"Not dinosaurs." Raf added.

"It would stand to reason that Predacons did indeed walk upon this Earth in ancient times. As they seem to have been the basics for much of humankind's folklore. Illustrating once again, that the past of Earth and Cybertron are inextricably linked." Galvatron told.

"Hold on, there's still one thing I don't get it. Why are they called Predacons if they are being used by the Autobots? Don't they supposed to be called correctly? Something like Predatobots?" Miko suggested.

"Yeah, it could be something similar with the Insectobots and Insecticons?"

"An interesting question, Rafael. But that is less complicated." Shockwave started. "Predacons remains were discovered even before the Great War started, so as well your dinosaurs were named by their finders, Predacons received their designation by the scientists who uncovered their first known remains. Of course, that name change that you suggest it could only be possible if they have the same ability to reason that caused the differences between Insectobots and Insecticons. However, there are no clues that Predacons were smart enough to achieve that bound, they were simply wild animals."

When the night came, the kids were still at the warehouse sleeping. Flamewar and Slipstream took them back to the couches for a proper rest. The only sign of activity was Knock Out working on a terminal.

"Synthetic energon?" Shockwave recognized.

"You managed to recover all the data from that?" Galvatron followed.

"Indeed. But the reason for this is that I am concerned that without access to any energon reserves since our base was destroyed, our ability to deal with impending crisis will be severely hampered." Knock Out explained.

"A wise decision, old friend." Galvatron congratulated.

"Just please, manage your expectations. I am working with even more rudimentary hardware than before." Knock Out saw showing the human made materials he had now as his items.

"If you allow me to suggest it, I will take care of the synthetic energon development as my top priority, while you can be more useful with the medical urgencies on the field." Shockwave suggested.

"That's a wonderful idea, Shockwave. Especially on these times, we require all the help that we can use on the field to stop Optimus plans, or in finding any possible resource that we can recover."

"I'll gladly help in any of that." Knock Out accepted.

"Galvatron!" Agent Silas called from his office's exit. "Satellite surveillance just picked up two signs of Autobot activity. One near an oil field outside of El Paso, the other near the Hiberties Bluffs in Scotland."

All the fuss woke up Miko.

"So don't forget to pack your kilts." Silas ended.

"We must divide our resources." Galvatron said turning to the team. "Dreadwing, you'll go with the Seekers to the Bluffs. You will assist in leadership."

"Yes, lord Galvatron." Dreadwing nodded, but as he went to prepare himself he approached Starscream confused. "Hum…what's a kilt?"

Starscream smiled knowing what he was referring. "Agent Silas can at times be oblique. Lord Galvatron find it best to simply nod and mobilize." He explained as they went with the other Seeker. "Slipstream, let's take flight."

On one hand she was glad to rise again alongside her brother, but at the other hand she sighed knowing that Dreadwing was going with them. As he was making his way out, Dreadwing stared at the sword Soundwave brought from the Ark.

"What's that sword?" He asked.

"One of the ancient relics that belonged to the Thirteen original Primes. This is one of Nexus Prime most important swords: the Chaos Edge. I guess Thundertron stole it when he found it." Galvatron explained.

"Sir, I know there are many emotions tied to this sword. Both good of sacred respect, and bad knowing how many of ours fell by its temporary owner."

"This is no time to stand on ceremony." Galvatron replied.

So Dreadwing grabbed it. "I would be honored to put this to some practical use."

The ground bridge transported Galvatron, Astraea, Breakdown, Flamewar, Soundwave, Stinger and Kickback to a highway overpass on El Paso. There they changed to their robot form. Galvatron took a look before turning at the team.

"Soundwave, investigate the south quadrant. The rest search following the road. I will search this quadrant." Galvatron instructed before he transformed and flew away.

Soundwave transformed and flew right in the opposite direction while the others transformed and followed the road. In a couple of minutes, the group found the oil fields. So they transformed and readied their weapons.

"This machinery in motion could offer proper hiding places for the Bots." Breakdown observed.

"So we better split in two teams, and keep our eyes open." Astraea said before she and Breakdown went to the right while the rest went to the left.

"Hey guys." Kickback started. "Have you ever thought you might wanna be leaders?"

"What? What is that question? Are you referring to now?" Flamewar asked.

"Not now. Someday." Kickback clarified.

"( **Actually I've always wanted to be warrior class.** )" Stinger said.

"Warrior, yeah. You and we two." Kickback simply said.

"But we've seen you in action. Galvatron knows you can scrap with the best of them. Why won't he just promote you from scout already?" Flamewar asked.

"( **It was my decision to remain as a scout.** )"

"Your choice? Huh. So why wait?" Flamewar continued.

"( **Wouldn't you want to be promoted at home?** )" Stinger answered.

"Guess it would be more meaningful to be graduated back home. On Cybertron." Flamewar said.

"It seems Stinger is the most patient guy we've ever known. We should take a cue." Kickback added saying the last part to himself.

"Guys, we have no evidences of Autobot activity in our sector. Did you find something?" Breakdown asked through the com-link.

"Not yet, it seems that…"

But before Flamewar could finish they heard a drilling noise, so Stinger pointed them to where the sound was coming as they hid behind a container. They spotted a mining drill and a couple of Autobot soldiers guarding.

"I regret it. We found them." Flamewar corrected.

"Understood. We're coming to support you." Astraea reported.

The three Decepticons moved out, but they didn't notice the Autobot snipers on the oil mills who observed them. In the moment they charged their weapons, the Decepticons nodded and quickly scattered within a split second, evading the blaster fire. They found some cover and Stinger returned fire, taking down one of them. Flamewar had a shot for one of the snipers and eliminated it, but two Autobots on the ground fired at her. She hid and readied her flamethrowers, next she ran out from the cover and created a small fire wall, just when a pump went down in front of her and she disappeared. They stopped to wonder how she vanished, and then they looked up to see her on top of the pump, seeing her jumping at them firing. Before landing she grabbed one of the Autobots and threw him to the other. The survivor smacked to a metal pole, and when he recovered he noticed Flamewar pointing to look up, but when he did he saw the pump coming straight toward him, smashing his head. Kickback climbed to one of the pump and roared to the snipers before unleashing a storm of lasers from all his legs. Some of the snipers were shot, the survivors tried to find some cover, but instead they found Astraea and Breakdown getting ready to punch them. Stinger eliminated an Autobot tank by shooting his arm off, then his leg and finally his head. Another Autobot fired at him, but Astraea came and kicked him at the face. Another Autobot, a heavy soldier tried to smash her with his big gun, but she grabbed him and spun him around, punching his head when she had the chance. Next she saw five Autobot guardians coming towards her in their combat form, so she took the heavy soldier's gun and passed it to Breakdown, who fired it at them. Once the fire was over, the Autobots were fried. Stinger and Kickback reunited with them, and aimed their guns at one sound, but it was only Flamewar with her arms crossed.

"Like I said; Stinger got nice chops for a scout." She repeated.

"No doubt Sting here's the best Con scout ever." Breakdown said putting a hand on his shoulder.

Then they heard loud footsteps, so they turned to the excavated hole and saw Perceptor emerging, with the Predacon bone on his hand. He fired his shoulder cannon, but the Decepticons managed to dodge the blast.

"You do not know exactly what you are facing." Perceptor warned as behind him a large shadow emerged from the smoke, being no one else than Grimlock, roaring in his T-Rex form.

"Let's force him to close his mouth." Kickback suggested and everyone fired at the Dinobot.

The shots did not cause any harm to Grimlock, but instead caused him to accidentally shot fire at an oil pump. As that pump exploded, it caused a chain reaction for the others to explode. The Decepticons ran away from the explosions as fast as they could. One explosion was set off near them and flung them into the air, making them crash hard to the ground.

"How epic was that?!" Kickback said as everyone was getting up.

Suddenly, Perceptor jumped over them in vehicle form covered in flames, and he was getting away. They transformed and pursued him, but Grimlock emerged from the smoke, also in flames too and went after them too. Knowing that they were chasing him, Perceptor turned his cannon around and fired at them, causing them to swerve. Grimlock tried to hit them by launching fireballs.

"You guys catch the mad doctor. I have a pending account with that Dinobot." Kickback said turning around.

"Kickback, no!" Breakdown shouted.

But Kickback already landed on Grimlock's back and started annoying him, forcing him to slow down. Perceptor arrived to the bridge, but then he saw Galvatron coming at him, so he aimed his cannon at him and fired. Galvatron managed to dodge all shots and fire a huge laser at impacted in front of Perceptor. The blast launched him in the air, making him roll and return to his robot form, and losing grip of the bone. It bounced all the way to the center of the overpass.

"Yeah! And that's why he's leader!" Kickback shouted as he saw it as Grimlock was catching up the Decepticons, who arrived to the bridge.

Seeing the bridge too close, Kickback though about something and decide to grab Grimlock's head and close his eyes with his legs.

"Hey! Get off me, bug! I can't see a thing!"

"That's the point, Dinobot!"

Kickback guided Grimlock until they had the bridge ahead. In the last moment, Kickback got off and took flight, more lucky than Grimlock, who couldn't react in time. So he ended with his teeth stuck in the bridge's edge, stayed on the bridge. Then a ground bridge appeared in front of Perceptor and Blaster came through, firing at the Decepticons.

"Blaster. Soundwave, we have someone here that you might know." Flamewar called.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Perceptor ran to the bone. Galvatron couldn't help because he was too busy dodging Blaster's fire. But he saw that Perceptor secured the bone again and headed to the portal. And to make things worse, Grimlock managed to climb up the bridge.

"Enough. I will take care of that guy." Astraea said stopping.

"Astraea, no. Grimlock is impossible to defeat in close combat." Breakdown advised.

She changed back to robot form. "Don't worry; I know how to deal with big guys."

She prepared to face his opponent taking out her chainsaw swords.

"Haha, did you really think you can take me down?" Grimlock mocked as he pulled out his own sword. "Mine's bigger."

He charged, but Astraea managed to dodge the attack and kick him on the face.

"Sometimes it's not the size that determines victory, but skills." She told.

That made the Dinobot more furious and charged again. Maybe Grimlock was stronger, but Astraea's skills and speed allowed her to make the rumble equal. At the same time, Stinger transformed once he was close enough, jumped and kicked Perceptor on the back. While he was still in the air, Flamewar jumped on him, grinding him to the pavement. Stinger tried to grab the bone, but he didn't notice that Perceptor recovered already, until he punched him hard. Kickback, Flamewar and Breakdown tried shooting at him, but it was useless because it seem like he had better armor. So he charged his shoulder cannon again and fired, but Breakdown received the shot this time. Meanwhile, Blaster deployed Sundor to aid him on delaying Galvatron.

"Enough." Galvatron said as he turned around and fired at Blaster hitting him on one of his wings, but he received a few shots from Sundor, who latched onto Galvatron's engines and began to electrocute him.

That made Galvatron to lose consciousness and start falling while Sundor detached from him. Galvatron crashed on the side of a bridge pillar, then the ravine wall and smacked hard to the ground after returning to his robot form. Blaster transformed and landed on one side of the ravine and looked at Galvatron, who started to recover. But then Sundor was charged by Laserbeak, so Soundwave could not be far, but Blaster did not realize that until he started rumbling with him again. Meanwhile the two remaining Decepticons were still trying to get the bone from Perceptor. Flamewar jumped on top of him, but the Autobot grabbed her and slammed her down to the pavement. Next he aimed his cannon at her chest, but Kickback grabbed the cannon and pulled, preventing him from scrapping Flamewar, but that did not stop him from throwing Kickback like a rag doll. As Kickback recovered he saw Perceptor coming at him preparing to hit him very hard, so he activated the phase shifter and phased through Perceptor's entire body. He made a grab for the bone with all his claws, but Perceptor wasn't gonna lose grip so easily. Soon Stinger, Flamewar and Breakdown came to help Kickback, until the bone broke, which Kickback and Stinger have both pieces, but a small tooth was flung in the air and into the ravine. Galvatron saw the tooth and took flight in his robot form. As he was containing his rival, Blaster saw it too so he started charging another portal, one that appeared between Galvatron and the bone, which fell through the vortex and into Optimus's hand. Then the vortex closed.

"No." Galvatron cursed.

"We have all that we need." Perceptor told to Blaster.

Once Blaster saw coming Sundor, who managed to escape from Laserbeak, he kicked Soundwave back and recovered his Minibot before transforming and getting back to the ground bridge. As well, Perceptor shot his cannon at Astraea, forcing her to block the shot and allowing Grimlock to hit her with his shield. Next he changed to his dinosaur form and charged toward the other Decepticons, allowing Perceptor to ride on him right to the portal. The Decepticons tried to shot them, but it was no use, so they reunited.

"A single strand of CNA." Soundwave reminded looking the bone.

Meanwhile in the Ark, Perceptor was examining the tooth when Optimus entered the lab.

"Perceptor, I understand that you engaged Megatron in the field."

"Only in order to secure the specimen, lord Optimus Prime."

Optimus picked up the bone. "I believed that you had perished once, my most prized engineer. And I highly doubt that Project Predacon can be completed without you."

"Then you can leave the fetching of bones to me." Grimlock offered as he entered the room.

"For me well, I will confine myself to my laboratory in order to accelerate results." Perceptor nodded.

"Excellent. For I am rather impatient to witness my army of beasts trample humankind underfoot." Optimus declared holding the bone.


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter Fifty Seven- Seeker Issues**

Just when the sun started to rise above the Arctic, its heat caused some of the ice formation to melt. On one of these formations the Predacon continued frozen, but the heat allowed his systems to return online, so it managed to break itself free from the ice. The creature roared before fly away. Meanwhile, in the Ark…

"Is it really wise for Perceptor to spawn an army of beasts here in this laboratory or within any part of this warship?"

"Bee's right." Cliff supported. "We meant not even the lone beast we had was compact enough to stroll these corridors without tearing them into sunder."

"Not if I breed them in my off-site laboratory. Which we have erected expressly for the cloning procedures." Perceptor answered.

That made Wheeljack groan. "You think of everything, don't you?"

"By the way, sir. Grimlock said that he's very sorry for the Predacon lost." Smokescreen said.

"Ha, can you believe that? He said it remind him to the Dinobots." Bulkhead added.

"At least he shows a little respect for the contribution others offer to the cause." Perceptor responded.

Then the ship began to shake.

"Guys, have you felt that?" Arcee asked entering the room.

"Indeed. It seems we're under attack." Cliff agreed.

"By who? Cons?" Smokescreen asked.

"Improbable." Perceptor answered as he saw the computer's reading. "But there appears to be an enormous mass upon the upper hull."

"We better alert our leader and assemble the troops to check out what's going on." Bee said.

The Autobots made their way to the flight deck. The dock door opened to reveal the Predacon standing before them.

"Woah. It's back." Bulkhead expressed.

"How did it find us?" Arcee asked.

"Predacons possess precise homing instincts." Perceptor explained.

"And astonishing resilience. Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Arcee, Wheeljack and Bulkhead, assume command of my beast." Optimus declared before he turned back inside the ship.

"What?!" Cliff yelled in disbelief.

"Us?!" Bulkhead added.

"But master! Would not it be better if its creator take care of this?" Bee asked.

"What Optimus Prime wants to achieve with this is military command over the Predacon. Besides my services are required elsewhere." Perceptor said following Optimus.

Smokescreen was going to enter too, but someone grabbed him from the back.

"And where exactly are you going? Optimus wants all of us to take care of this!" Arcee said.

"Ah. You mean all of you. I don't remember hear my name of all the Predacon keepers, don't you?" Smokescreen reminded, leaving Arcee without words.

"There you have been caught." Bulkhead said.

"You could at least give us a hand in this." Bee simply said.

"I'm afraid Smokescreen is already busy, by helping me with all my needs as my new lab assistance." Perceptor specified as he returned and took Smokescreen with him.

"See you guys. Enjoy your special task." Smokey mocked as he and the others returned to the ship.

Bumblebee punched the door in anger while the others looked terrified at the Predacon, getting closer to them.

"We have gotten into a huge mess." Wheeljack simply said.

Meanwhile, Dreadwing's ship already arrived to the Hiberties Bluffs of Scotland. The ship landed on a cliff, and soon the elevator descended the three Seekers to the ground.

"Alright Beast Hunters, according to our intel the Autobots should be excavating for Predacon bones directly beneath us." Dreadwing reminded.

"We already know that, chief. So what are we waiting for?" Slipstream said before she quickly ran out in the open.

"Does Slipstream not comprehend the chain of command? Neither you or I did not authorize her to advance without proper cover." Dreadwing said a little annoyed.

"I'm sure Slipstream is just trying to prove herself now that you are here serving together again. Believe me captain, when I was leading the Seekers she was one of my best warriors." Starscream said.

"Yoo-hoh!" Slipstream yelled before she gleefully jumped off the ledge, so Dreadwing remained unconvinced.

Slipstream was now climbing halfway down the cliff, then a few rocks hit her head, so she looked up to see Starscream climbing down to her.

"Slipstream, wait." He warned. "Dreadwing thinks that we should…"

"What he's now? Your superior?" She interrupted as she continued climbing down.

"Sh, sh!" Starscream said as he pointed down.

Right below them was an Autobot guardian walking out of a cave's entrance in sentry mode. Dreadwing squatted from a distance on the ledge. After seeing where the others were he groaned and changed his hand for a cannon.

"General fact number 17?" Slipstream started.

"Guards never look up." Starscream finished.

Then Starscream lost his footing and a few rocks fell. They bounced of Slipstream and landed near the guardian's feet. He looked up to see Slipstream coming right at him. She quickly grabbed the guardian's neck and broke it, making the course collapsed, something that made Starscream smile. Next she looked at Dreadwing and saluted him. But soon the other Autobots exited the cave.

"Scrap." She cursed.

They fired their guns, but she managed to dodge the shots thanks to her agility before pulling out her whips. She stunned one with one hit and kicked him next, and then Starscream finished him with his claws. Next he turned his other hand into a blaster and shot at other Autobot. More lasers came from above the Autobots, coming from Dreadwing's guns, and just when he was almost at the bottom he jumped off and pulled out his new sword. He hit the ground hard, sending them flying at the same time. Starscream managed to neutralize one with a missile, other tried to attack Dreadwing, but he pushed him back before slicing him with the sword. He sent the last one to the wall after slicing him two. When the combat was over, the Seekers deactivated their weapons.

"That's why we wait for cover." Dreadwing said.

Slipstream was about to say something when suddenly she heard knocking noise coming from inside her.

"Oops." She said remembering something.

She opened her chest plating and a pair of hands appeared: it was Miko, who emerged from Slipstream making retching noise and deep breaths.

"Miko?" Starscream asked in disbelief.

Slipstream got her in both hands and took her to a boulder to rest on. "Sorry Miko. I forgot you're in there."

"At least I didn't heave on any floor mats this time." Miko answered before she covered her mouth.

Meanwhile out on the Ark's flight deck, the five Autobots were attempting to teach the Predacon some military training.

"Alright beast, listen to me carefully: you do not like us and it's clear that we do not like you either, but Optimus has given us clear orders so we're going to do everything in our hands to get along well. So first crawl into your kennel." Wheeljack said pointing where the Predacon was supposed to go, but the creature did nothing. "Come on, we don't have all day."

"Perhaps we need to show it what it needs to do." Arcee suggested putting herself in front of the Predacon. "See, like this." She made a demonstration walking until she reached to the destination place before returning in her vehicle form. "See, now is your turn."

But the Predacon continued only watching.

"Arg, how many times do we have to explain it to you? Just go!" She said trying to push it leg to move, but instead the Predacon swung its tail and sent Arcee flying to the wall.

"Okay, that's it!" Bulkhead said pulling out his wrecking ball and hitting the Predacon's hindquarters.

But that was a wrong move, because the Predacon angrily growled and fired its flames at them. They dodged in time, but Cliffjumper started to feel something hot above him.

"Hum, Cliff." Bee said pointing his head.

So Cliff looked up and saw that his horns were red hot and burning, so he quickly put it out. At the same time, in Scotland…

"And what could have possibly compelled you to bring the native?!" Dreadwing demanded.

A flashback showed when the Seekers were about to leave the base, she was the last one to get out when suddenly…

"Yo." A voice called from behind her, no one than Miko. "Can I come with?"

"With not?" She answered.

That was her explanation.

"Are your circuits impaired, soldier?" Dreadwing asked.

"Sister, humans are vulnerable to cybertronian combats. Why bring her here?" Starscream asked too.

"Galvatron told you to share the Seekers leadership. I assumed he meant all of them." She said looking back at Miko giving her a smile.

"Are you mocking your commanding officer?" Dreadwing asked.

"Wouldn't think of it, sir. Miko maybe is not a cybertronian, but she has the spirit of a true Seeker. Isn't that right, brother?" Slipstream said looking at Starscream.

"Well, I have to admit that her adventuring spirit has no comparison." Starscream simply said, he knew that special quality of Miko maybe caused them much trouble, but also shows her enthusiasm for helping.

"Look, she maybe small, but she saved my life. Even she managed to snuff a certain traitor bounty hunter, all of her own." Slipstream explained referring to Lockdown's demise.

"Outside standard protocol no doubt." Dreadwing clarified.

"The point is I can handle myself, sir." Miko finished standing up.

"I'm the same impacted than you Dreadwing, but it's true that Miko has been through worst. Breakdown can secure that. Besides, we've drawn out the enemy and cleared the passage." Starscream pointed to the Bots' courses.

Dreadwing answer was only a frustrated breath. Meanwhile, the Predacon was now sleeping in the Ark's hangar when the sound of approaching footsteps woke it up. It looked to see Bumblebee in the Apex Armor while the other Autobots remained hidden.

"Okay, now in you go!" Bee ordered pointing to the ship's corridor.

The Predacon stood up and roared.

"Ha! Do your worst. The Apex Armor is virtually…" But Bee couldn't finish because the Predacon grabbed his arm and started tossing him around like a toy. "AH! NO! Release me!"

That made the others Autobots to laugh.

"This isn't funny!" Bee yelled before the Predacon threw him to the wall and crashed upon the other Autobots.

"Ouch, I'm going to feel that tomorrow." Bulkhead groaned.

"Arcee, are you and the others with the beast?" Elita One asked through the com-link.

"Yes, commander! We've been…reviewing…attack maneuvers. He's doing quite well."

"One of the excavation teams has failed to report in." Elita informed.

"Do you want that one of us go to see what's going on?" Arcee asked.

"Actually you're going to lead our newly returned asset on this mission so that we may see if our Predacon is as adaptive on fetching bones as it is hunting Decepticons." Elita explained.

"What?!" Arcee exclaimed, earning the other Autobots' attention. "But commander, we are able to handle this by ourselves."

"Those are Optimus's orders! Don't question them!"

Meanwhile, the Seekers were now inside the cave looking for any trace of the bones the Autobots were looking.

"Is this it?!" Miko said picking an object.

Dreadwing looked at it. "No. That is a rock." He continued his way.

"Ha. Just like old times, huh, sister?" Starscream asked trying to cheer her up.

"Except back then, I didn't need permission to pick my partners. And there was no leader except you." She answered.

"Come on, we're all on the same team. Hey, Beast Hunters, right?" Starscream said.

Then Slipstream turned at Starscream. "During all those cycles it took me to travel to Earth, all I could think about was getting our big family back together. But this isn't the lineup I had in mind." She said looking at Dreadwing. "I guess I did the smart thing leaving the Seekers when I did. Right when we still have the memories of our shinier moments together, before everything went down."

"Wait, I thought Starscream was the one who left the Seekers." Miko said.

"The truth is that when Megatron heard about my great success leading the Seekers he gave me the chance to get a good use of that skill as his second in command. I thought of the advantages that could provide to the war in general, but it seems I didn't think of the personal consequences. I could not perform as second in command and leader of the Seekers at the same time, so Megatron proposed the idea of putting a new leader in charge of the group. He thought Dreadwing will be a good choice, but others did not see it that way. Slipstream was one of those who didn't agree with Dreadwing's leadership way, they thought that the team had lost the family leadership that characterized it. So she deserted once the Seekers fell under Dreadwing's command. Sometimes I think Slipstream feels like I abandoned her, and the family. Maybe is right." Starscream explained, but his face showed a look of great sadness.

"Screamer, you didn't abandoned your family. You knew Megatron and the Decepticons needed you. Whatever happened to the Seekers next is not your fault, maybe was Dreadwing or them, but not you. Who would expect that you were so great that everyone would miss you? That means that you were special for them, that's what I'm trying to say." Miko said.

That made Starscream feel better. "Thanks Miko, maybe that's what I needed to hear."

Then the whole place began to shake. The large vibrations cause Miko to lose her balance and fell, but Starscream caught her and covered her from the falling rocks with his other hand. Suddenly it stopped.

"What was that?" Slipstream asked.

Then they heard a loud shriek, followed by a lowed growl and thunderous approaching footsteps.

"Whatever it is, is big." Starscream deduced as the approaching footsteps grew louder. "And it's coming fast!"

Dreadwing stood in between both Seekers with a bad feeling of what it might be. Suddenly the recognizable creature came crawling through the tunnel.

"The Predacon." He said.

"Let's take flight." Starscream suggested.

"Agreed." Dreadwing supported.

Everyone changed to their vehicle forms and accelerated. Miko was safe ridding in Starscream.

"It's back?" She asked looking through Starscream's pilot seat.

The Predacon launched a huge fireball, but the Seekers managed to dodge it. The Predacon continued trying to bite the closest Con when it was close enough. Then Dreadwing notices another tunnel way on his left, so he quickly entered, followed by the others. The Predacon roared and viciously attempted to follow, but when the tunnel became smaller it got stuck, so it struggle to break free and as a last move it fire more flames, which was getting close to the Seekers.

"Accelerate!" Dreadwing commanded.

They arrived to a large opening cave before the flames caught them. Once inside, they returned back to robot form.

"That was really close. I thought that reckless beast was done inside its frozen grave." Starscream said.

"That rock won't hold it forever. We need to contact base and request reinforcements." Dreadwing said.

"A simple trapped mindless beast is not something we Seekers can't handle." Slipstream argued.

Watching coming another quarrel between Slipstream and Dreadwing, Starscream decided to intervene.

"What Slipstream means is we can't get a com-link signal this far underground." He explained, so Dreadwing looked at Slipstream, who smirked and crossed her arms. "Miko, we have to get you out of here. I'm gonna need you to climb." Starscream said before putting her on a boulder and pointing at the ceiling, revealing a huge crevasse where the sun light shone through it.

"No way. I wanna help." Miko argued, making Starscream groan.

"And you will." Dreadwing suddenly said. "Your mission is to reach my ship so you can contact Galvatron."

"Yes sir." Miko confirmed before she started to climb up.

"Whoa. I'm surprised that worked." Starscream expressed.

The Predacon's roaring sounder more furious, followed by the sound of rocks breaking.

"I don't like the sound of that." Slipstream said.

"What do you have in mind, captain?" Starscream asked.

"We make our stand. Here and now." Dreadwing suggested pulling out his big cannon.

"I was thinking the same." Starscream revealed as he and Slipstream pulled out their laser guns.

Miko finally reached to the top and saw Dreadwing's ship, so she ran toward it. But once she almost arrived, she heard the sound of the elevator, so someone else was inside the ship. She went to hide before the elevator revealed that five known Autobots were there.

"Given that this ship is currently unoccupied, it would seem that Cons did stumble upon our little mining operation." A voice said, revealing to be Wheeljack's.

"No problem. If there is something the Predacon likes better than play with us is hunting Decepticons." Cliffjumper said.

"Indeed. It has been a challenge, but we managed to tame the beast. It is only matter of time that it will obey every command." Arcee said, wearing the Apex Armor.

"Come on, come on." Miko whispered behind a rock.

"Then you're not wearing the armor to protect yourself from it? After all you have been the most easily affected." Bulkhead reminded.

"That's not true! Besides now that you mention it's getting rather warm in here." Arcee said before she pressed the button on the chest of the armor, deactivating it. Miko also saw when Arcee grabbed the armor in deactivated form and placed it on another boulder. "Ah, that's better."

Back in the cave, the Predacon continued advancing until it arrived to the open cave, where Dreadwing was waiting with his cannon ready. He fired his weapon, which launched a few grenades that hit the creature, which roared and charged toward him. Dreadwing charged too and punched hard its face, making it screeching in pain.

"Open fire!" Dreadwing signaled.

Slipstream fired at it from one side, while Starscream fired from the other. The Predacon swung its tail at Starscream, but he dodged receiving only a few scratches from its spikes. The Predacon charged its core and launched a fire shot at Slipstream, who dodged it. It tried to do the same with Starscream with the same result. Then Slipstream pulled out her whips and covered the Predacon's neck with them, unleashing an electric wave that caused the creature a lot of pain. That made it launch more fire in all directions, almost hitting Dreadwing, who slid on his knees dodging the flames before punching hard again the beast's chest while Slipstream moved. Still down, the creature swung its tail at him, but Starscream grab it.

"No you don't." He said, but the tail's strength was more than enough to pull him up and tossed him at Dreadwing.

With two Seekers down the Predacon approached them, but a few shots caught its attention.

"Hey, hot head!" Slipstream called from a ledge.

The Predacon was preparing to launch more fire, moment that Slipstream took advantage to threw a couple of missiles attached to a detonator, and it was counting. The missiles looked like they were going straight down the beast's throat, but it whacked them away with its tail. The missiles bounced off the walls and landed in the center of the cave, just when the time was out.

"Oh, scrap." She simply said.

The blast shook the bluffs and the dusty explosion shot through the crevasse like a volcano. While the Autobots went to the crevasse to inspect it, Miko took the chance to reach the platform. The Autobots noticed the smoke seeping through the crevasse.

"Whoa. That'll do some damage." Wheeljack observed.

Miko was almost at the platform when a foot stomped in front of her. She gasped as she looked up to see Bulkhead.

"Miko, is it?" He asked.

Inside the cave the Predacon break free from the rubble roaring in anger. It looked for the Autobots until it spotted something shining. It went to where the shine came from, moved a rock out of the way and found a fossil of a Predacon optic. It scanned and saw the Predacon that it belonged. Meanwhile…

"I remind this girl. She is supposed to be with Breakdown. So tell me, he's around here?" Bulkhead asked, but Miko denied. "Oh well, maybe next time."

"Let me guess, you were trying to reach the ship to call for backup." Arcee deduced.

"A shame that is not possible for you anymore." Bumblebee said as he pressed a button that made the elevator to go back up into the ship.

But Miko decided to not give up, so she sprinted to the platform. Wheeljack attempted to squash her, but she jumped forward and rolled between his feet. She quickly got on her feet and jumped for the platform, managing to grab the ledge. Once on the platform she saw Bulkhead coming at her. He tried to smash her with his fist but she evaded at the same time that she spotted the Apex Armor, so she decided to make a desperate jump for it. She landed right on the button, activating the armor as it engulfed her. The Autobots were in disbelief seeing the armor covering a human.

"Whoa!" Miko said when she saw herself completely covered by the armor.

"I was not aware that the Apex Armor also worked with humans." Cliffjumper said a little nervous.

"Not me either." Bee added.

"What's the matter, guys? Can't pick someone your own size?" Miko mocked advancing toward them.

"Ha! It's only a little girl without any combat experience, and we are two formidable Wreckers. Who do you think is going to win?" Wheeljack challenged.

Then the Autobots heard a faint growl and looked up. Next a small object fell from the sky and bounced of Miko's head. It rolled on the ground in front of the Autobots' feet: it was the optic.

"What do you know, it does fetch." Bumblebee remarked.

"I'm afraid we're not the ones who will take care of you." Arcee smirked as Miko turned to see the Predacon landing on top of the ship.

"Scrap." Miko cursed as she ran in fear, but the Predacon caught her.

Meanwhile in the cave the Seekers finally recovered themselves.

"Well, that didn't go exactly as planned." Slipstream saw.

"That's because any first-cycle cadet knows better than to detonate an explosive in a confined space!" Dreadwing lectured.

"Even if I intended the confined space to be the belly of the beast?" Slipstream argued.

"Uh, guys…" Starscream started.

"Your actions continue to be one step removed from getting us all scrapped!" Dreadwing shouted as he stomped.

"Enough already! I'm trying to stop you two to fight each other when we're supposed to chase the Predacon and make sure than Miko is safe and sound and not in hands of the Autobots! Did you two understand?" Starscream asked mad.

Both Slipstream and Dreadwing looked each other shocked and nodded.

"Fine. Because she is out there alone with that beast free and she probably need our help." Starscream finished as he transformed and flew away.

"Permision to assist my brother, sir?" Slipstream asked mad.

Speaking of Miko, she was laying on the floor while the Predacon crawled her. And to make things worse, the Autobots were enjoying it.

"Haha, now this is a good show." Wheeljack said.

"You're not so brave now, little one." Cliffjumper mocked.

"Go ahead! Make a wreck of her! As you know doubt did the Seekers." Arcee encouraged.

"When Breakdown will know what happened to his little friend, he'll not doubt come for the Predacon, and then I will enjoy seeing him like her right now." Bulkhead said.

"Bumblebee, status report." Optimus called through com-link.

"Master, we have secured the bone." Bee reported as he saw Miko screaming while the Predacon picked her up and started shaking her like a toy. "And our Predacon is dealing with the Decepticons' human pet as we speak."

The Predacon slammed Miko hard to the ground, creating an impact crater.

"I'll tear you apart!" Miko threatened.

But the creature unleashed another fire storm over her.

"Have the beast return with my prize immediately! You can stay behind and finish the Decepticons." Optimus instructed.

"Yes, master." Bumblebee nodded.

"Well, we need good luck if we're about to convince the brainless brute into…" Cliffjumper started, but he couldn't finish because the Predacon stood in front of them and pinned him to the ground, roaring angrily at him.

It noticed the bone next to him, so it carefully grabbed it with its sharp teeth, took flight and flew away.

"Hey! You never obey our commands!" Cliff yelled mad.

"Okay, let's find those Cons and finish them once and for all." Wheeljack declared.

"You guys go ahead, I will catch you up when I recovered what is ours." Arcee said as she approached Miko, who looked unconscious. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Even the strongest armor can't protect the weakest of creatures." She said going to deactivate the armor when suddenly Miko grabbed her, scaring her.

"Protected you, didn't it?" She said.

After showing her she grabbed Arcee by the arm, which made her scream in the process. She spun her around and threw her at Wheeljack. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper opened fire at her, but obviously the Apex Armor was doing its job fine. Miko charged at them and tacked them that much that sent them flying. Bulkhead pulled out his wrecking balls and tried to hit Miko but she managed to dodge his moves and grab one of them to hit his face.

"Haha. See you, kid." Wheeljack said launching a grenade at her, but Miko grabbed it, allowing it to set off right in her face.

The explosion created a huge cloud of smoke. He looked to see if he got this time, but Miko jumped high in the air and as she was coming down she kicked him, sending him crash hard to the ground. Arcee charged next with her blades ready and jumped at her, but Miko managed to knock her down with a simple punch. Next Cliffjumper engaged her; she dodged and blocked every attack he threw at her, until she countered with a low kick. Bulkhead jumped as he elbowed her on the shoulder, she dodged two light blows and blocked a heavy blow which shoved her back. Then she charged at him and threw good punches in his torso, next she climbed on top of the Wrecker and bashed him on the head. She bounced off him and kicked Cliffjumper again crashing on the ground. Bumblebee tried to trample her, but she rolled out the way and quickly got back up on her feet to continue engage them. In that moment the Seekers emerged from the crevasse and noticed someone in the Apex Armor fighting against the Autobots. Miko punched Bumblebee twice in the torso followed with an uppercut and a side kick.

"Who's wrecking who now?!" Miko shouted.

"I'll show you how we Wrecker's do it!" Wheeljack yelled as he charged with his swords.

Wheeljack tried to slice her, but Miko pivoted to the right around him and climbed on top of him. Next she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down to the ground.

"Miko?" Starscream said with his mouth opened.

"Perhaps you weren't wrong about the human after all." Dreadwing admitted as Slipstream smirked.

Miko finished by kicking Bulkhead, sending back with the other Autobots.

"Who do you think you are to challenge us? Enough, it is time to show why we Autobots managed to survive during the war for Cybertron. Did you have any idea of the Decepticons we managed to kill?" Bee warned as he and the Autobots prepared to attack together.

"Big whoop. I snuffed Lockdown." Miko answered.

That left the Autobots without words, but before they could charge they saw the Seekers coming.

"Oh oh, battling an armored human girl is one thing. But deal with her alongside three Cons?" Bulkhead started.

"Let's get out of here. Now!" Bee yelled as they transformed and drove away.

"Awh!" Miko groaned, and saw the Seekers next to her. "They got away with the bone."

"You're worried about that? You managed to stand against five Autobots, two of them Wreckers!" Starscream yelled still in disbelief.

Slipstream laughed. "Maybe you don't have wings like us, but you have fought with the spark of a Seeker. And hit like a Wrecker." She said touching her shoulder. Next she looked at and Starscream. "And I want to keep these memories of us together, before everything goes down." She finished looking at Dreadwing.

Then Slipstream transformed and flew away.

"What? Where's Slipstream going?" Miko asked.

"Alone." Starscream answered.

"Again?!" Miko asked.

"Slipstream just left the family." Starscream said sadly as they saw her flying towards the horizon.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter Fifty Eight- Healing Relationships**

Inside the Decepticon base…

"Incoming ground bridge request." Raf reported. "From Scotland."

"It must be the Seekers." Knock Out deduced, accompanied by Airachnid and the kids.

But the only one who came from the portal was Slipstream, who returned to her normal form.

"Slipstream? What happened?" Knock Out asked.

"Where are the others?" Airachnid added.

"Having a swell time taking the long way home on Dreadwing's boat I'm sure. Miko included." Slipstream simply answered, walking away.

"I wondered what was taking so long with those sodas." Raf said knowing about her disappearance.

"Did you secure the Predacon bone?" Shockwave asked.

"Hum, the situation went out of control, professor." Slipstream answered.

"Well I just got wind of another Bot Hot Spot: right outside of Taos, New Mexico. Since Galvatron's unit isn't back from oil country…" Silas reported.

"We'll take care of that, Silas. Raf, set a bridge for Silas's coordinates." Knock Out instructed.

"You, rise with us." Airachnid said to Slipstream.

"Not today. I'm not in the mood." She answered.

But instead of being mad, Airachnid smiled. "If you're alright sending us out there alone."

"Alone is how I prefer to rise." Slipstream talked back.

"Slipstream, I do not advise you to make me abandon a complex equation to venture outside my comfort zone. Besides, what do you think Starscream would think about your attitude now?" Shockwave said.

That made Slipstream groan. "Okay, I changed my mind."

The ground bridge appeared and the three Decepticons passed through.

"In case you hadn't figure out…" She said while the crossed the portal. "…I don't play well with others that are…not…Seekers."

After the ground bridge closed, the Decepticons saw that they were surrounded by Autobot heavy soldiers, heavy Aerobots and tanks.

"Scrap." Knock Out cursed as the Autobots aimed their weapons at them.

"You guys know what I love most about Autobot troopers?" Slipstream whispered to them.

"They're easily distracted." Airachnid replied.

Knock Out nodded and lowered his hand allowing Airachnid to place her foot on it. Next he threw her high in the air, which got all the troops' attention. Slipstream took the chance to change to her alt form and take flight while Knock Out began firing at them soon they turned their attention back to him, but he already took down two behind him. As Airachnid landed she blasted three Autobots behind her, next she saw more coming at her with their melee combat hammers ready advancing at her, so she simply disposed of them with kicks, punches and with her spider legs. The heavy Aerobots transformed and took flight, but Slipstream was already waiting for them, she blasted them out of the sky one by one. Knock Out smashed another tank with both hands before pulling out his electric staff and charging at the remaining enemies. Despite of not being stronger as them, Knock Out managed to eliminate all of them with a good combination of his staff and martial arts.

"Well, that was stimulating." Airachnid opined.

"Woah. You're sure you're just a medical officer?" Slipstream asked, surprised about Knock Out's skills.

"You're sure you only play well with Seekers?" Knock Out answered.

Meanwhile in the base, Silas was working with some files when he heard a car pulling up. He went to the window and saw June Darby heading to the building, so he decided to freshen up. At the same time, Jack was playing another video game ( **Castlevania** ) when his mother showed up.

"I see you're seizing the time." June observed.

"Hey mom. What's up?" Jack simply said.

"Nurse Darby. What brings you here?" Silas asked.

"The medical supplies you so graciously offered to donate…and that Jack keeps forgetting to bring home." June pointed. "The hospital appreciates you generosity, agent Silas."

"Please, call me Leland." Silas said, something that Jack believed suspect.

"Guys, I found a Predacon talon, in a museum." Raf called. "Scientists were stumped when they excavated it in 1922. So it's been in storage."

Raf's laptop showed an image of a Predacon bone.

"But we're fresh out of Beast Hunters." Jack noticed. "But surely Shockwave can handle something like this."

"I don't think is logical seeing a cybertronian tank driving to a human museum for recollecting ancient Predacon fossils." Shockwave explained.

"I don't think we need a Con." Silas said.

"Maybe you should all just wait for Galvatron." June suggested.

"I'll have you know, Nurse Darby, I was a Spec Ops member and federal agent for Unit E three decades before I even heard of the name Megatron. I'm more than equipped to handle a milk run." Silas told. "In fact…why don't you tag along?"

"Oh. I don't know about that." June answered.

"Absolutely not!" Jack intervened. "Mom, I don't want you anywhere near anything Bot! It's not…"

"Safe?" June interrupted. "Is my teenage son seriously going to tell me that it's fine for him to travel all the way to Cybertron, but his mother can't be trusted to go on a …" She stopped looking at Silas.

"Milk run." He whispered.

"Milk run?!" June finished.

"No, I just…" Jack tried to say. "You're lactose intolerant and I…"

But Jack stopped knowing that he couldn't do anymore.

"Come on, agent Silas." June simply said.

Once they left, Jack looked at Raf, who only shrugged while Shockwave was puzzled.

"I know Ms. Darby trend for her son's well-being is natural, but this inversed situation is most…" Shockwave started.

"Illogical?" Raf asked.

"Strange." He corrected.

At the same time, on the Ark's flight deck…

"Ah, you have performed well, my pet." Optimus congratulated stroking the Predacon's head, with the optic's bone in his other hand. "This will be a splendid contribution to the spawning of your Predacon brethren."

In that moment, Smokescreen arrived.

"My liege, we've located another of Perceptor's Predacon energy signatures. It's weak, but steady."

"Excellent. Smokescreen, do not return empty-handed." Optimus ordered.

"Me? Don't even know what that word means." He answered.

"Isn't empty-handed two words?" Grimlock asked confused.

"Don't ask me, Perceptor may have the answer. By the way, why are you here, general?"

"Well, my dear Smokescreen, I came to make company to our fellow friend here, showing him that still now he's not the only beast." Grimlock answered giving the fact that he was in his T-Rex form.

"A wise decision, Grimlock. That will calm his need of relative company while Perceptor proceeds with Project Predacon." Optimus said.

"Oh, is that supposed to be emotional?" Wheeljack sarcastically said, showing that he and the other Autobots returned from their mission.

"You should not be the best person to talk to. As he told me, no one of you managed to truly connect with him." Grimlock argued.

"Him?" Arcee asked confused.

"Are you saying that thing is a male?" Bulkhead asked.

"A boy, just like me. So watch out for your…" Grimlock started, until he notices something missing. "Where exactly is the Apex Armor?!"

"Eh, yeah, we were just about to tell you, my liege. You're not going to believe it, but they stole it from us." Cliff told.

"What?!" Grimlock roared.

"You just left the Decepticons to grab it?!" Optimus asked mad.

"No Optimus, it was not a Con. It was taken by a human, one of the humans the Decepticons protect." Bee started.

"The human girl that Breakdown takes care." Bulkhead specified.

"She took the armor by herself. And to make things worse she managed to learn how to control it in no time. We tried to recover it, but surprisingly she fought like a Wrecker." Wheeljack explained.

"You were defeated by a simple human child?" Smokescreen asked.

When the five Autobots nodded, Smokescreen started to laugh a lot.

"What's so funny?" Arcee asked.

"You guys, five Autobots, two of you Wreckers, and despite all your training fell against a little girl?!" Smokescreen said before he continued laughing. "I'm sorry, I just cannot take it seriously. That's truly humiliating."

That made them five really mad, while the Predacon and Optimus simply watched, this last one really disappointed. But before they could argue with Smokescreen, Grimlock advanced toward them threatening showing his teeth.

"If I have not finished with you yet, it's because I enjoy your list of failures. But this is too much!" Grimlock shouted, making a bite of warning.

"If you didn't managed to won against a human kid, a simple insect, then you are not quite ready to operate for a while. Clearly you need time to remember all what you learned from your training." Optimus decided.

"Optimus, I promise…"

"Stop now, Bumblebee! You five will be temporarily out of any mission until I see fit that you have trained enough. You have failed me enough. Smokescreen, you have a chance to show me that you're not so useless as these."

"Yes, my liege."

"Grimlock, assume the task of monitoring for Predacon energy signatures, at once."

"Yes, Optimus Prime." Grimlock answered leaving while the other Autobots were still present.

"What are you waiting for? Get out of my sight right now!" Optimus yelled to them.

"We'll continue discussing the details of your defeat when I come back!" Smokescreen shouted them before he went back inside with Optimus Prime.

"Perceptor has initiated the cloning process with the specimens gathered thus far. The Predacon clearly among us would be but the first of a new way of beast machine super soldiers." Optimus proclaimed.

They were not aware that the Predacon was listening everything they said.

"All of this is your fault!" Bulkhead yelled, referring at the creature.

"You don't think you have caused too much damaged already?! Return to you kennel!" Cliffjumper followed kicking its tail.

As response, the Predacon swung its tail at them, but they managed to evade it in time. But the tail hit the communications array.

"Look what you have done!" Bee yelled.

Meanwhile on New Mexico, the three Decepticons continue their quest inside a cave.

"You're awfully quiet, Slipstream." Knock Out noticed.

"I've never liked to chat with none familiar ones." She answered.

"Why do you pretend? If you really wanted to rise alone you would have hit the open road today." Airachnid deduced.

"But you didn't. Instead you called for a bridge back to base." Knock Out followed.

"Hey! Don't assume you know me!" Slipstream protested.

"We're not." Knock Out said while Airachnid stepped in front of her.

"Now, care to tell us what happened out there?" Airachnid asked.

Meanwhile, agent Silas and June already had the Predacon fossil walking out of the museum.

"What did I tell you, milk run." Silas reassured.

"With one cranky cow." June added.

"The curator? Acted like he was guarding the Mona Lisa instead of some prehistoric lugnut that's been gathering dust since Harding was president."

"I have to say, agent Silas, you handle him well. I was quite impressed." June supported.

"Nurse Darby, that is the best line any woman had said about me all my life."

"Hum, no meet a woman before?" June asked interested.

"Have no time. Or less simply said I didn't find the suitable woman." He answered. "What about you? What's your story with Mr. Darby?"

She sighed. "More like a saga. But one I'm sure you heard before."

Then a pair of light signaled them a car approaching them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you in a precious night like this, but I have a bone to pick with both of you." The car said, revealing it to be Smokescreen as he pulled out one of his vehicle mode guns.

"Run!" Silas told to June.

June tried to run but the cannon flashed a blinding light. A minute later, both of them woke up on Smokescreen's trunk.

"Kick back, relax and enjoy the ride." The Autobot simply said before he slammed the door and drove off, leaving only behind a crashed cell phone.

Smokescreen was now driving along the road.

"Smokescreen to Optimus Prime. I have secured the Predacon talon. And as a present for you, two of the Decepticon human allies, so you can use them for obtain information or as test subjects for Ratchet's experiments, whatever you like. So please, my liege, tell me you appreciate me more than the others." He said, but he only received static. "Hello? My liege? Too familiar?"

Back to the Ark…

"The primitive mutt has demolished our entire communications network." Arcee said as a couple of Autobot engineers were repairing the array.

"And Optimus Prime intends to breed more of it?!" Cliff said in disbelief.

"Have you finished already? We don't want our master knows about this little incident." Bumblebee told them.

Once they finished, bumblebee went to the control panel from behind the array and typed some buttons.

"Entering access override code and rebooting now."

Everything seemed fixed, until an energy surge caused the array to burst. That made the Autobots more nervous, but Bulkhead the most because he started punching the array, damaging it more, something the Predacon simply observed. Meanwhile, at the Decepticon base, Raf was the one who was playing now while Jack walked around worried.

"It's really taking them a while." Jack noticed.

"Airachnid, Knock Out and Slipstream?" Raf asked.

"My mom and agent Silas. Maybe they stopped for dinner." Jack thought.

"Isn't that what grown-ups do when they're dating?" Raf asked.

Jack looked him with an irritated face. "It's what grown-ups do when they're hungry."

Then Jack's phone sounded, which made him happy.

"Mom!"

"Guess again, Jack-Rabbit." Miko answered.

Miko was talking while she and the others were on their way back to base aboard Dreadwing's ship.

"And I hope you are not still thirsty, because I'm bringing back something way cooler than sodas." Miko said looking the Apex Armor.

"I can't talk Miko, I need this line free." Jack answered as he was about to hang up.

"Wait! Don't hang up." Miko asked. "Did Slipstream show? I think Starscream is really worried about her."

"Slipstream is fine, she's on a mission with Knock Out and Airachnid." Jack told.

"Slipstream is riding with new partners already?! That's cold." Miko said.

"What? No, it's just one mission. They're not partners." Jack talked back.

"Hum. I wonder how long it would take to Knock Out to handle two girls. Well, you still have Flamewar." Miko said, leaving Jack confused.

At the same time, Smokescreen continued his way with June and Silas stuck inside him.

"I told you we should have waited for Galvatron!" June protested.

"There it is!" Silas growled back. "The "I told you so". Well no sell, lady. The Bot was at the museum. If we had waited, he would have snagged the talon before Galvatron got there!"

June sighed. "And given our current situation, what difference would that have made?!"

"Hello! How long have you two been dating? Because you are arguing like an old married couple!" Smokescreen involved.

"What?" Silas expressed.

"We're not dating!" June defended.

"Frankly I find it repulsive: the whole idea of you fleshies…interfacing…" Smokescreen said before shuddering.

"Oh please, like if you know what dating means for a man and a woman!" June argued.

"Hey, don't misunderstand me! There are many soldier girls who are crazy about me, but there's one girl that I'm… But, but, but what I'm doing talking about these things with you two?!" Smokescreen shouted before trying to communicate with the Ark. "Smokescreen to base, requesting pickup, again." But he only heard static again. "Alright, is anyone up there receiving me?!" He sighed. "It seems this is going to be a long way home. By the way, what is a Galvatron?"

"What? It's not a thing, is a name!" June answered.

"A name? But who would to bear a name like that? It sounds like a similar version of…Megatron. Oh, so that's it." Smokescreen said, finally understanding the meaning of that name.

"Nurse Darby…June." Silas whispered. "If this Bot get us to Prime's warship, the chances of the Cons ever finding us decrease a thousand fold."

"Never let an Autobot take you to a second location." June answered back.

"He disarmed me back at the museum. Do you have anything we could use as a weapon?" Silas asked.

June struggled until she pulled out a canister. "Pepper spray?"

"On a Bot?" Silas asked incredulously.

Meanwhile, the three Decepticons were using mining drills to make a path to the bone.

"Guys like Dreadwing, I don't them peel my paint, I peel theirs." Slipstream was telling.

"So if it isn't the new commander who's grinding your gears…its Starscream. No?" Knock Out asked which she nodded.

"But he's your brother. Why then?" Airachnid asked.

Slipstream sighed. "It's just burns me up when a Seeker lose its touch, it's like they cut off its wings."

"Well I was not there; I only know that some things changed when Starscream left when he was going to be trained by Megatron personally. But whatever happened it was not his fault." Knock Out opined.

"I'm not saying it was his fault. I'm just only saying that it was not the same without him." Slipstream answered.

"What had Starscream what made him different from Dreadwing? What made him special?" Airachnid asked.

"It was not that he was the Seekers' first leader, he worried for everyone's well-being. And when someone had an issue, he always tried to help by his way, and unlike other high ranked generals he always fought alongside his troops on the front, becoming an example for everyone. And given the fact that almost all the ones who helped to create the Seekers were his family, marked one of our most important memories. That's something Dreadwing couldn't match, and now that Starscream is continually agreeing with him, I don't want to believe that he lost of all his past self." Slipstream told with her face looking down.

"Look, Slipstream. You'll always have the Seekers as you knew them. In here." Airachnid said placing a hand over her chest as Slipstream continued digging.

"Times change, players come and go, and if you can't adapt you'll rust, like the bones we're digging for. Don't push Starscream away. If something happen to him you would never forgive yourself." Knock Out added, as Slipstream stopped drilling.

"Trust me, I know." Airachnid finished with sad eyes.

Inside Dreadwing's ship, Miko saw that Starscream was still sad, probably for his sister. So she tried to talk with him to cheer him up.

"Hey Scream, when we returned back to base I can tell Breaky everything I did to the Autobots?" She asked.

"He, why not? I'm sure Breakdown would like to know that now he's the only Decepticon with a human partner able to inflict physical damage to the Autobots. I'm sure he'll like to train with you." He said with a depressed tone.

So Miko decided to ask something else, more serious.

"I have noticed that Slipstream doesn't mix well with Dreadwing." She said, earning his attention. "I mean, she's like me: a free spirit, hard Con and nice person to be with. But it seems like Dreadwing doesn't like any of her qualities."

"It's true that at first sight Dreadwing looks like an unhappy air captain, but he was not like that always." Starscream revealed, what caught Miko's attention. "There was a time, during the middle of the war, when he was not as hard as now."

"Why?" Miko asked.

"I guess it was the fact that he battled alongside his twin."

"Dreadwing had a twin?!"

"A twin brother, Skyquake. They were two great warriors, and also very loyal to Megatron. And when Dreadwing sensed when his twin's spark was no more, the same day they reported his demise, he was not the same again. I guess he already had he's new attitude when Megatron gave him my team's leadership, the reason why Slipstream is not here."

That made Miko think over; maybe Slipstream and Dreadwing were not incompatible, if they knew each other better. As for Smokescreen, he continued driving until he arrived to a bunk of railroad tracks.

"Smokescreen calling to base. Requesting a ground bridge for the umpteenth time. Come in, base." He asked, but only received more static, which made him groan. "I can't just drive around all night…"

Suddenly Silas came through the backseats and grabbed the steering, trying to made the Autobot lose control.

"Hey, watch it!" Smokescreen yelled as he made a sharp turn for the tracks.

Next Silas slammed the brakes.

"Now!"

June ran out of Smokescreen with the talon box, while Silas went took off the other direction.

"Well, isn't that just grand?!" Smokescreen expressed before he transformed and grabbed Silas. Next he faced him. "Did I say grand? I really wanted to mean totally rude."

"Here you have something rude!" Silas said as he pulled out the pepper spray and sprayed it directly into the Autobot's eyes.

That made Smokescreen scream. "My optics!"

The pain caused him to release Silas, who managed to escape. It took Smokescreen a while to readjust his optics and see again, noticing a lot of parked box train cars.

"Oh, do you want to play a human game now?" Smokecsreen asked as he started advancing between the trains. "Because I would be happy to teach you the Autobot version: hide-and-go-shriek." He laughed maliciously.

While Smokescreen was looking for them, June and Silas continued evading him as they tried to find each other.

"June! June! Where are you?" Silas called.

"Aja! There you are!" Smokescreen shouted before he grabbed Silas through the other side of the box because it was opened from both sides. "Alright little lady, it's your turn now! Show yourself! Or I turn the snappy soldier here into a sloppy stain on the tarmac!"

June heard everything from her hiding place. Meanwhile, Jack was still trying to talk with her and with Silas.

"You've reach special agent Silas. I'm not available at the moment, so leave a message and I'll contact you when I'm available." His voicemail said.

"Straight to voicemail, just like mom's cell." Jack observed.

"Maybe they went to a movie." Raf suggested as he was with his laptop.

Jack only groaned. "I wish I could see what they are doing right now."

"There is a way, Jack." Shockwave told him. "You only need to ask."

Jack knew that he was referring to the ground bridge. At the same time, the three Decepticons were moving through the cave.

"Ok, I admit it. Running from my brother, shutting down like that, is not how I handled with my siblings back home. And it's not also the way a lady act." Slipstream finally confessed.

"On the bright side, you have plenty of backbone now." Knock Out said looking back, pulling of the Predacon spine.

"Airachnid, I need your help." Jack called.

Jack travelled to the museum where the Predacon talon was supposed to be.

"My mom and Silas may be in serious trouble." He said worried picking his mom's smashed phone and looking the tire tracks.

Speaking about them, Smokescreen continued wandering around looking for June with Silas at hand.

"Last chance, she human! If you are not out here with my prize in 2.3 seconds your boyfriend here…!" Smokescreen menaced until a train departing got his attention.

He turned around and as the train left it revealed June, with the box in her arms.

"Okay, first: not my boyfriend." She said, causing Silas to blush while Smokescreen looked him suspiciously. "And second: you are not laying a metal digit on him." She smashed the box to the ground, revealing that it was empty. "Not if you ever want to see your precious talon again."

Smokescreen grabbed her immediately. "Where is it?"

"Leave her alone!" Silas demanded.

June struggled. "I hid it on a train car. Let us go and I'll tell you which one."

Smokescreen sneered before looking around the area. He growled in frustration, but then he realized that the talon was on the train that just departed.

"Nice try…but it's not so easy to fool an Elite Guard member." Smokescreen smirked.

It was true: the talon was inside the train, so Smokescreen was following it, with June and Silas sat again on the back seats.

"Fasten your seat belts; it's going to be a bumpy ride." Smokescreen advised as they tried to unbuckle the belts. "Oh wait, you can't unfasten your belts. My bad."

Meanwhile, on the Ark, Optimus finally discovered the incident with the communications' array.

"Communications have been down for how long?!" He asked mad.

"Hum, maybe for 5 or 6 hours." Wheeljack answered, making Optimus to groan.

"But there is no need to worry, master. Blaster and I practically have the dish repaired." Ratchet calmed while Blaster was checking the array.

"Which is well and good for you and Blaster…" Optimus said before looking at the other Autobots. "But for you?!"

"Smokescreen to Optimus Prime, please come in!"

"See? All fixed." Wheeljack added.

"Smokescreen, do you have the Predacon bone?" Optimus asked while Smokescreen continued driving.

"In my sights, my liege. As are a pair of Decepticons riding my rear." He answered seeing Slipstream and Airachnid on his rear view mirror.

Understood. Just make sure you secure the specimen." Optimus instructed.

Airachnid was getting close to Smokescreen when the Autobot ground bridge appeared above them and four Insectobots flew out. Two started to fire at her while the other concentrated on Slipstream. But she transformed and wiped them both out with a spiral swing of her whips before returning to her vehicle form, dodging the bugs' corpses. The remaining two continued blasting at Airachnid, so she transformed really fast, spun around and fired, taking down one bug and making it crash with a power line, destroying it. She returned back to vehicle form. Smokescreen got close to the train.

"Now in which train car would a little deceptive human choose to bury a bone?" He asked examining the cars, until he located the one which contained the bone. "Prize for the winner."

Smokescreen speeded up, so Airachnid was going to follow, but the last Insectobot swooped in and rammed her. She transformed before she crashed and wrecked, and saw Slipstream coming behind her.

"Get Silas and June!" She yelled.

Airachnid saw the Insectobot circling around and returning at her, so she pulled out her laser handgun and fired, the shot spliced the bug in two before exploding. Meanwhile, Slipstream was getting close to Smokescreen.

"Here's where you get out." He said before drove up on the hillside.

Smokescreen transformed and released Silas and June in the process as he landed on the train. Both humans screamed in terror as they fell, but Slipstream transformed, grabbed them and returned to her vehicle form while Airachnid resumed the chase. But Smokescreen already grabbed the talon and returned to vehicle form back to the road.

"Lord Optimus Prime, if the ground bridge doesn't open tout suite your specimen will belong to the Decepticons." Smokescreen called alarmed through com-link.

The Autobot ground bridge opened and Smokescreen drove in and disappeared really fast before Airachnid could reach it, so she returned to robot form as the train continued its way.

"Scrap." She cursed before noticing Slipstream next to her. "Where are they?"

"In the pilot's seat." She said opening it, revealing them two still affected but safe.

The ground bridge opened and the four returned back to base.

"Mom." Jack said walking at her and hugging her, the same as her. "Are you alright?"

"The milk run turned a little sour, but Leland and I are just fine." June reassured.

"Come on June, let's take a rest." Silas said as they walked together.

"Leland?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Looks like your girl is starting to get along with other girls, Jack." Miko said arriving pointing at Airachnid, who was talking with Slipstream, they laughed and said goodbye with a fist pump.

Next they saw Slipstream walking at Starscream, who was still down for what happened before. She approached him and gave him a hug, so he hugged her back and the two ended by clashing their wings together.

"Family and friendship relationships, the best." Jack said.

"Always good to see siblings back together." Miko added. "Hey Knock Out, you're not going to believe what I did in the Seekers' mission."

"Really? Then tell me."

"Why not? You had to see her in action back there, Knock Out." Slipstream reassured.

"Then wait until Breakdown returns. I'm sure these are those kinds of things that are needed to be told in public." Knock Out opined.

Back in the Ark, Smokescreen was having a good day too as he showed the talon to Optimus.

"You have certainly done well today, Smokescreen." Optimus congratulated.

"Thank you, my liege. Oh, another thing, I heard the humans talking about someone called Galvatron. Does that ring you a bell, sir?"

"Hum, that surely is intriguing. If my thoughts are correct, Megatron may have adjudged himself a new identity, but no matters that name changes anything, he's still the same. But anyway, thank you for giving me this revelation alongside your victory. Which is more than I can say for some!" Optimus said looking at Bee and the other Autobots.

"I told already that it was the beast that disrupted communications, our liege." Bulkhead told again.

"We beg you to reconsider Project Predacon." Arcee continued.

"That creature is incorrigible, and void of all but the most rudimentary intelligence." Bee added.

"Was not I like that when I started being a Dinobot?" Grimlock asked getting in. "I'm sure it only needs time to learn and adapt."

"Indeed, Grimlock. And when it manages to improve, the other ones like it will follow it." Optimus said.

But they were not aware that on the flight deck, the Predacon was hacking its way through the communication array. Digging up all the information about Project Predacon.


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter Fifty Nine- Night of the Living Terrorbots**

It was a stormy night where the Ark was flying. Inside someone was doing something unusual for him.

"So lately these days I have felt a little different, as depressed. And I had never felt like this. There have been times when I calmed down, stopped and controlled my wild temper, but these days ... I felt like I was discouraged, as if I were not myself. It maybe sounds weird, but the only time when I felt no like this is with the Predacon, not like the other ones here." Grimlock confessed, while Ratchet was sit next to him like a psychology therapy.

"Exactly when did that happen to you?" Ratchet asked.

"Just after our fortress was destroyed, when we returned to operate only with our ship."

"And exactly when was the last time you powered down?"

"Hum. Certainly I don't remember."

"So that's the thing. Grimlock, you have been active too much time and no even think about a little relaxation for your systems. I'm sure that a good power down will help you regain your stamina."

"Hum, perhaps. Normally I felt better when I'm battling, but maybe this is what I need. Thanks Ratchet." Grimlock thanked as he was leaving, but stopped before he left the room. "Oh, one more thing. Giving the fact that I'm going to be absent for a while, you need to find a substitute for a second in command."

"I'll take care of that."

Once Grimlock was put in power down, Ratchet was heading back for his laboratory.

"Hey doctor." Smokescreen called from other hall, alongside Bumblebee and Arcee. "What's up?"

"I just put Grimlock into power down mode, so he can rest all that he couldn't all this time."

"Really? Grimlock asked for a break?" Arcee asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and certainly from my expertise point of view I believe that's the best for him now." Ratchet expressed.

"So, who's going to take his place?" Smokescreen asked, so everyone looked at him. "Temporally."

"I'm not sure. There are no many officers present that can assume a command post of that level." Ratchet said.

"Then I will."

"You? Are you certain, Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked suspicious.

"As we all know, you are not exactly Optimus's favorite at the moment." Smokescreen remembered.

"Perhaps, but someone needs to perform that emptiness of power, and if there is no one capable of it, there has to be at least one volunteer that can try it." Bee defended.

"Hum." Ratchet thought. "Alright, Bumblebee. I will talk with Optimus about this, meanwhile you can exercise that post. But only until he makes his decision!"

"Understood."

"Now if you excuse me, I have some work to do." Ratchet said walking back to his lab.

"Do you mind if we take a look?" Cliffjumper asked arriving.

"No, only while you don't touch anything without my permission." Ratchet answered.

They found Bulkhead too once they entered the lab.

"What are you doing here?" Arcee asked.

"Jackie invited me to assist him in something he considered a good show. And he was not wrong." Bulkhead explained before everyone heard a faint groaning in the shadows.

"Ha, did that hurt a lot?" Wheeljack mocked as he was working with a much known prisoner. "This is for our fellow Wreckers that you and your cursed crew turned into scrapheap!"

The prisoner was no other one than Thundertron, the leader of the Star Seekers.

"Please…someone, help…me." He begged attacked to an operation table.

"After all you did to us? Leave me think. Hum, no." Smokescreen said, making some of the Autobots laugh.

Arcee chuckled. "My, my, my. Whatever have you been inflicting upon poor Thundertron?"

Ratchet laughed. "Well, anything that merits the need for a living petri dish."

"And giving him some of his own medicine." Wheeljack added while Ratchet was holding a syringe full of green liquid and injected it into Thundertron.

Then Thundertron's groaned in pain as his eyes turned green.

"Yes, what that feels?! You once had me pinned your lab table. Now is your turn to suffer!" Bulkhead shouted.

Suddenly he powered down.

"Whoa. What just happened?" Cliff asked.

"You recall that synthetic energon Ratchet recovered from the Decepticons? Well, we've been reproducing the formula to test its viability as an alternative energy source." Wheeljack explained.

"However, the compound remains erratic and there have been side effects." Ratchet continued.

"Such as?" Smokescreen asked.

Suddenly Thundertron reawakened screaming, with his optics still green. "I hope you all have your T-Cogs because I'm going to tear them out and feed it all to Grimlock!"

"Shear unrivaled aggression." Ratchet concluded.

"Such power and fury." Bee observed. "Optimus Prime has longed desired the beast machine super soldier. And we now possess the means of delivering one to him."

"Indeed, Bumblebee. This could interest our master for future plans." Ratchet supported.

"I'll communicate him." Bee said leaving the lab.

Speaking of Optimus, he was in the bridge speaking with Perceptor by com-link. But he wasn't alone, Elita One was with him. But there was something different: there was no one else in the bridge and Elita was hugged with Optimus in a very romantic way, so it was a private moment for them two.

"How I wanted a moment like this to come, to be both alone."

"So than I, my dear." Optimus said with a smile as he put a hand around Elita's head. "Are you sure you don't want to wait until I finish talking with Perceptor?"

"I don't matter. How many times are we going to have an opportunity like this?" She answered.

So Optimus continued with his conversation. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Perceptor. Tell me of the Predacon protoforms. What is the status of their incubation? Mm-hm. Uh-huh."

Right in that moment Bumblebee entered the bridge.

"Master, we have made the most intriguing discovery! It appears that…"

"Not now!" Optimus interrupted. "Please continue, Perceptor. No, no one important."

Elita gave him a signal to leave, so Bumblebee scowled in frustration and left the bridge. In a hallway outside, the other Autobots were waiting for him.

"So, how has it been?" Arcee started.

"Did you speak with our liege about our little enterprise?" Bulkhead asked.

"I had no chance. They were acting… strange." Bee simply said.

"Yeah, I know what happens when Elita and Optimus are together and alone. And they want no one to disturb." Ratchet said.

When they returned to the lab Thundertron continued screaming.

"I am gonna make you suffer in ways you would not believe!" He yelled.

"Yeah, as if we had not seen anything new about you." Bulkhead said.

"Whoa, he looks like he's having his worst day ever." Cliff said. "How much of this Synth-En have you given him?"

"Two additional doses. Three at the most." Wheeljack answered.

Ratchet picked up another syringe full of green stuff. "But Thundertron's increasingly volatile nature isn't the only wrinkle."

"By the way, where are the other two Star Seekers?" Smokescreen asked.

"Locked inside the prison block, waiting their turn to experience whatever Thundertron could not endure." Wheeljack said.

Ratchet injected more synthetic energon, causing Thundertron to fidget and grunt.

"It appears that the more green stuff I administer the faster this monstrosity, formerly known as Thundertron, burns through his natural energon reserves." Ratchet explained.

"But that doesn't help us anyway. Prime already possess one unruly beast with that Predacon of his. What's the point of giving him another freak of nature that doesn't want to listen to him neither?" Cliff reminded.

"You're right. If only could be a way to wield total control over to him…" Arcee started.

Then Bumblebee's mind came out with something. "That's it! We are fools." He said with a fiendish grin grew on his face.

Moments later he returned with an energon box, but one that glowed purple.

"Dark energon?! You are more than a fool, Bumblebee. I think your neural cluster has blown a massive fuse!" Smokescreen argued.

"On the contrary, my friend. Adding dark energon to the formula should provide Optimus Prime with full control over his super soldier." Bee reassured.

"Okay. Truth that Optimus Prime seems to possess a symbiotic link to anyone or thing infused with the dark matter allowing him to manipulate them as if they were puppets." Wheeljack admitted.

"But have you guys forgotten what the so called blood of Unicron did to our warship?" Bulkhead reminded.

"Ha! I don't want to experience that again. It started to cause me claustrophobia!" Smokescreen yelled in panic, making the others laugh.

"Maybe that was the result of a massive infusion. Perhaps only a single drop or two…" Ratchet started.

"That will be enough to allow our master to command his warrior at will." Bee added.

"Even so, it's too drastic a measure to undertake without Perceptor's opinion. Perhaps I should discuss this to him." Ratchet realized.

"What's he now, your superior?" Bulkhead asked.

"Sorry for saying this, Doc, but you didn't need to ask anything to anyone before he arrived. Did you become soft, Doctor of Doom?" Wheeljack asked.

"I will not tolerate insults like that against me, Wheeljack! I'm still the same as before."

"Perceptor is too busy with Project Predacon. Surely he doesn't have time for a little energon experiment." Arcee supported.

"And actually he doesn't have any authority on this project. Super soldiers fall under military operations. That means, Ratchet, that you now report to me. Understand?" Bumblebee corrected.

With all settled, Ratchet processed the dark energon into liquid state. He loaded it in a syringe and injected it into Thundertron, which groaned in pain and let out a painful scream.

"Now we only need to wait." Ratchet instructed.

But moments later, he powered down again.

"Arg! I didn't expect Star Seekers were so delicate." Wheeljack cursed seeing the results.

"Well, I guess that means goodbye Thundertron." Bulkhead said, trying to cheer everyone.

But then, Thundertron sprung back to life, roaring in rage, with his eyes now purple.

"Yes! It's alive!" Ratchet shouted excitedly.

Suddenly Thundertron broke free from his binds on his arms and whacked Wheeljack aside, making him crash to the wall.

"Scrap!" He cursed.

Thundertron then broke free from his binds on his legs. He groaned as he stood on his feet, next he took a few steps until he fell to one knee. Cliffjumper cautiously poked him, but he didn't respond.

"Whoa, for the love of…Now what?!" Cliff asked.

"I told you before: it's a side effect of the Synth-En. He's burnt through his own natural reserves." Ratchet remembered.

"Then perhaps we should withhold any infusions for a while. Might calm Thundertron down a bit." Smokescreen suggested.

"You're right. It'll make him a tad more manageable." Bee agreed.

Thundertron struggled to lift his head.

"Need…energon." He said weakly, before his lower jaw split into monstrous mandibles with a fierce roar.

From his mouth emerged a long bladed tongue, revealing to being turned into something they didn't expect: a monster. That terrified the Autobots while Thundertron stood up and walked toward them. Arcee tripped back to the floor, so he was going for her. Bulkhead pulled out his wrecking balls and ran for attack, but Thundertron pushed him away before he could strike. Next he grabbed Arcee and pulled her closer. The bladed tongue launched for Arcee's neck, but she tilted her head to the sides to avoid the bites.

"Smokey, passed me that!" Bee said pointing an electric staff similar to Knock Out's.

Smokescreen did that, so Bumblebee used it to stun Thundertron, causing him to release Arcee and allowing her to kick him back a few steps. But that didn't seem to affect him much as he let out a monstrous roar and showed his tongue again.

Arcee gasped. "Do you think he's actually trying to…?"

"Suck out our energon with that thing?" Bumblebee finished, while Thundertron tried to get close.

"It seems that way." Cliffjumper said grabbing the electric staff and aiming it at him, but Thundertron grabbed it and broke it in half.

"RUN!" Ratchet yelled.

The Autobots ran out of the lab screaming, with Thundertron stomping after them.

"See if you can hold him off." Ratchet said.

"What?!" Bulkhead asked as Ratchet changed to his vehicle form.

"Hey, wait for us!" Cliffjumper yelled.

All the Autobots changed to vehicle form and drove very fast, leaving Thundertron behind, forcing him to wander the halls looking for other preys. Once they were far enough, the Autobots slowed down and returned to robot form.

"We need to…sound the alarm." Smokescreen suggested frightened.

"Are you crazy? Optimus will undoubtedly hold us responsible." Arcee pointed.

"And…we are!" Ratchet shouted.

"Well, you are mostly." Bulkhead said pointing Ratchet and Wheeljack.

"Don't worry, our leaders don't need to know that. Not if we handle this the right way." Bumblebee said.

"Exactly how?" Wheeljack asked.

"Use your head, guys. This ship is crawling with highly trained Autobot troopers armed for combat." Bee explained.

"Oh, now I see. The moment Thundertron attempts to feed, they will neutralize him for us thinking that he managed to escape when he had a chance. And problem solved." Cliffjumper understood.

In another hallway, a lone Autobot was patrolling the area, and around the corner Thundertron was waiting for depredate him. Once he was close enough, Thundertron lunged out and tackled him. The Autobot screamed in pain as Thundertron sucked out his energon, until he finished with a roar as the Autobot powered down. Meanwhile the group was starting to search carefully.

"Once we recover Thundertron's body we must dispose of it quickly and efficiently as possible." Bumblebee said.

"No trace of him can be allowed to remain. His…infected body." Ratchet said shuddering.

When they turned a corner they gasped as they saw the Autobot's body. Ratchet rushed to his side and checked for an energy pulse.

"Gone. Completely drained of energon." Ratchet informed.

"Tell me something, guys. When you said problem solved is this even close to what you had in mind?" Bulkhead asked mad.

"Watch your tone, Bulkhead. This catastrophe is hardly our fault." Bumblebee said.

"Well it certainly isn't mine!" Ratchet followed.

Without anyone noticing the Autobot slowly moved up to his feet, except Smokescreen.

"Huh, guys?" He said frightened.

"Oh no?! You're the two geniuses who chose to experiment with synthetic energon." Arcee claimed.

"Guys?!" Smokey called again.

"And you're the monkey wrench who thought it was a good idea to dabble in voodoo!" Wheeljack argued.

"Guys?!" Smokescreen shouted.

"What?!" Everyone shouted.

Smokescreen trembled pointing at the Autobot, which terrorized them a lot.

"Energon." The Autobot snarled before his mouth turned like Thundertron's, which made the Autobots scream.

"I thought you said he had no spark!" Cliff yelled.

"Dark energon, it reanimates the dead." Ratchet realized.

"So now we have a real trouble." Bee said pulling out his guns.

Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Wheeljack and Arcee fired at the Autobot undead while Bulkhead and Ratchet pulled their close combat weapons. But despite the shots, the zombie still kept coming.

"This is not working. It's like he can't feel the shots." Wheeljack observed.

"Aim for the head!" Smokescreen suggested.

"What?! How do you know?" Bulkhead asked.

"I've seen human horror films." Smokescreen replied, which made the other Autobots to look at him in disbelief.

"What?" Ratchet asked.

"Seriously?" Arcee followed.

"At drive-in theaters! Okay?! What happens?!" Smokescreen defended.

Bulkhead changed his wrecking balls for his cannons and charged them while he aimed at the zombie's head. Once they were totally charged he fired them, making a huge explosion. But when the smoke cleared they saw the body still moving with the tongue still active.

"With the head gone and it still can move?!" Bulkhead asked in disbelief.

"Forget the head! Go for the spark!" Bee declared as he fired.

Bumblebee continued until his shots burned through the zombie's spark chamber, killing it for good.

"At last it's dead, truly?" Arcee asked.

"We severed its link to the dark energon." Ratchet confirmed.

"Noted. Human horror films, waste of time." Smokescreen said.

Thundertron wandered aimlessly down another hall looking for more preys.

"Energon." He snarled.

At the same time, the Autobots were trying to know what happened.

"If the mutation can be passed along with a single bite, the entire crew is at risk." Ratchet realized.

"Wait! Are you saying Thundertron can beget more Terrorbots?" Cliffjumper asked with fear.

"Possibly, and the ensuing feeding frenzy can turn this entire warship into a scrapheap." Wheeljack added.

"So now can we sound the alarm?!" Smokescreen asked.

Before they continued debating they came across four Autobot snipers.

"Soldiers, have you noticed any unusual activity…" Arcee called while the Autobots turned at them, and revealed that they were infected. "In…this…vector?"

The zombies marched toward them, so the Autobots have no choice but to turn around and run while they screamed. They reached to a wall with a fork at the end. Smokescreen ran to the left while the other Autobots ran to the right.

"Don't leave me alone!" Smokescreen yelled as he followed them.

They continued running until they found more zombies in their way, infected engineers and tanks. So they ran the opposite direction. Then Ratchet noticed they were going to pass near a room.

"In here, hurry!"

Everyone jumped inside before the door closed and hid in a corner.

"Guys, this situation might be a bit more direr than no one of us ever imagined." Smokescreen said.

"Hfm, I find it rather ironic that after battling Cons all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, this is how our lights go out?" Wheeljack said.

"Drained of our precious fluids." Ratchet imagined.

"Guys, I have something to say." Bumblebee started. "I know that I not operated well as a leader. But if this is indeed the end, if we are to become Terrorbot chow, I want you to know that it has been an honor serving lord Optimus Prime with all of you."

"The feeling is mutual." Ratchet said.

"We had a good time, no Bulk?"

"See ya in the other side, Jackie." Bulkhead said before both Wreckers crushed their fists.

"Cliff, maybe you are not the best partner I had, but it has been fun fighting alongside you."

"Same as I, Arcee. I really knew you like company."

"Well, I never had a very close relationship with any of you, but I must confess I have always admired your special team life." Smokescreen confessed.

There was a long pause.

"Mm-hmm. Well, then." Ratchet started.

"Should be going. At least let's try to die fighting." Bee cheered.

The group exited the room and walked carefully looking for any possible zombies around, but when they turned to the left they bumped into someone. Fortunately it was not a zombie, but it wasn't something good either: Optimus Prime. And he didn't look happy, the reason they gasped in fear.

"Would either of you like to tell what exactly is going on?" He demanded.

"Yes, absolutely nothing, sir." Bulkhead started.

"All is quite." Bee added.

"Too quite." Arcee followed.

"One could even say dull." Cliffjumper said.

"Really? Because the dark energon within my spark has been pulsing." Optimus said. "Smokescreen."

"Yes, my liege. Allow me…to speak…with total freedom."

"I'm listening."

"You see, Ratchet and Wheeljack were doing some research on Thundertron with synthetic energon, but when we saw its effects everyone tried to find a way to manipulate him completely, so Bee came with the idea of adding dark energon, but the cocktail comprised of dark and synthetic energon has created a monstrous mutation which is now on the verge of turning your entire crew into mindless and terrifying energon sucking Terrorbots!" Smokescreen related.

"I do not know where you got that crazy story. But if I learn that some of you have been dabbling with my dark energon stores, attempting to infuse yourselves with its formidable power…" Optimus was saying while another zombie was approaching him from behind.

"Uh, Optimus." Ratchet called, noticing the zombie.

"And now you want to ask for the same redemption that I give to Grimlock in his moment?" Optimus continued, until the snarls of the zombie finally got his attention.

"Energon!"

"You there, what are you doing? I order you, stand down!" Optimus ordered, but the zombie charged at him, but Optimus killed him with a single shot of his cannon before looking back at the Autobots.

"We did try to tell you." Ratchet said.

"Mm-hmm." Wheeljack followed.

The Autobots were now in the bridge explaining everything to their leaders while Blaster was trying to locate Thundertron.

"Then why can I not command the monster to follow my bidding?" Optimus asked.

"While the trace of dark energon should have granted you control over these ghouls, I believe the synthetic component may be corrupting your link to them." Ratchet explained.

Optimus nodded to his sparkmate.

"Initiate high alert! Instruct the troops to keep their distance from the mutations and terminate them on sight!" Elita instructed to Blaster so he transmitted the commands.

"Your fate, however, remains to be seen." Optimus said to the Autobots, who looked at each other nervously. "Why are you still here?! Find this creation of yours and eradicate it, immediately!"

The Autobots left the bridge and started looking for Thundertron.

"I realize Optimus is only doing this to punish us, but how are we the best choice to hunt down Thundertron?"

"You're right, Bulk. Why not sending his beloved beast machine super soldier, hmm?" Wheeljack supported.

"Yeah. After all it is supposed to be the ultimate hunter." Smokescreen added.

"Out of the question! Can you imagine if the Predacon became infected?" Arcee suggested.

"Nothing could stop it." Ratchet agreed.

In other parts of the ship the Autobot troops were engaging the zombie horde, supported by the Insectobots which crawled on the ceiling, helping each other in destroying all the undead Autobots: the Autobots used their weapons while the Insectobots eliminated the zombies with their claws. Blaster was the one who was supervising the cleaning. As for Thundertron, he continued wandering until he noticed a locked door on his left. He smashed the screen pad with his fist, forcing the door to open. Once he entered he saw inside a lot of pods that contained the recovered relics from the Decepticons, and a familiar stasis pod. He sensed an energon presence inside.

"Energon." He snarled before he slammed the glass and started to rid the stasis pod apart.

That caused the reawakening of his fellow Star Seeker: Sandstorm. Of course he looked happy in first place.

"Captain! I knew you managed to survive all this time. Thank the Allspark." Sandstorm yelled in happiness. "Wait until I tell the rest about this." Then he noticed something strange. "Captain, are you alright? You seemed changed."

Thundertron's mandibles sprang open as he closed to suck Sandstorm's energon. He managed to dodge the tongue before he climbed on top of the wrecked pod and kicked Thundertron's face.

"Captain, what has gotten into you?!"

Thundertron brushed it off and grabbed him before pulling him closer to try sucking again. But Sandstorm grabbed the bladed tongue before it got too close and punched him in the face, causing him to lose his grip. Thundertron tried to crush him, but Sandstorm quickly jumped back. Thundertron tried to stop him again while he was down, but Sandstorm slithered his way out and tried to crawl away, but Thundertron caught him and swung him to the wall, disorienting him. Before he could get up, Thundertron grabbed him and approached his tongue to suck his energon, but he quickly changed to his helicopter mode, hitting him with his helicopter mode's propellers, what allowed him to fly above him.

That made Thundertron groan in frustration. "Energon!"

"I'm sorry, captain."

Thundertron had no choice but to defend himself, so he shot many missiles and lasers, enough to create a big hole on Thundertron's chest, what took him down. Sandstorm returned to robot mode and approached Thundertron's body, and then noticed small amounts of green and purple substances coming from his insides.

"This is not ordinary energon. Whatever have they done to you, they're going to pay. So, by anyway, thank you for freeing me." Sandstorm thanked.

"No. Thank you." Thundertron simply said before he closed his eyes, followed by a power down sound.

"Rest well, captain." Sandstorm said. Next he started manipulating his arm's terminal. "Insectobots, heed me."

Sandstorm's words were listened by all the Insectobots as they were finishing with the last zombies.

"Your master is back."

As response, all the Insectobots changed to their flying form and flew off to his location. Blaster saw that, so he knew something was not going well. The group of Autobots was entering the same room, and it didn't take them too much to find Thundertron's corpse.

"Our deal is finally over." Cliff said relieved.

"Or not." Arcee said pointing at the wrecked pod.

"Scrap." Bee cursed.

"Bumblebee! Have you made contact with the plague bringer?!" Optimus asked by com-link.

"Actually, my liege, we have good news, and bad news." Bee simply said.

That made Optimus roar in anger. Meanwhile, all Insectobots were regrouping with Sandstorm.

"Loyal servants, the time is now! Lay waste to all Autobots. Leave no trace of them in your wake." Sandstorm instructed as he marched down the hall.

At the end of the hall he saw a very recognizable Autobot.

"Blaster!"

Sandstorm ordered the Insectobot hive to stop, while Blaster simply remained his ground.

"I vow that on this day, the world will hear the sound of your screams." Sandstorm swore before he charged alongside the Insectobots.

Blaster locked the space bridge coordinates onto on of Cybertron's moons, and activated the portal in front of him. But it was already too late for Sandstorm and his Insectobots, who passed through the portal and reached the moon. Once the entire hive crossed, the portal closed, leaving Sandstorm and his Insectobots banished on Cybertron's moon.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With all done, Blaster returned back to his post. Just in that moment Grimlock returned from his power down, totally rested.

"I had never rested so well." He said when he saw Blaster walking away. "What? Has something happened in my absence?"

Everything returned back to normal in the ship, but of course Optimus discussed that with Perceptor.

"Yes, the containment protocol you recommended to prevent any further outbreak is now underway. Oh, and Perceptor, having just lost more than half our military might I cannot stress enough the importance of Project Predacon. See if you can speed things up, will you?" Optimus said before he hung up and turned at the other Autobots. "Ratchet, need I remind you that as the ship's medic, you report directly to Perceptor, not Grimlock's substitute."

"Understood, master." Ratchet replied.

"Just to be sure, you will hand over all of your projects to him immediately. Including the synthetic energon." Optimus declared.

"As you wish my liege."

"And as for you." Optimus said looking at the other Autobots.

"Optimus, this is my entire fault." Bumblebee said, surprising the other Autobots. "It was my choice to exercise Grimlock's post, the same as the decision of combining synthetic and dark energon, the same as my choice of trying to fix the crisis by our own. I'm totally responsible of this incident, so I'll receive whatever punish I deserve."

"I'm impressed by the way you have accepted your mistakes, Bumblebee. So allow me to explain things, in a manner which I know you'll understand." Optimus said advancing toward him.

As for Sandstorm, he was sitting on a boulder on Cybertron's moon as the Insectobot hive stood before him.

"Our master, we await your command." One of the Insectobots announced.

"Approach me. Serve your master." He said, not aware that he had two bite marks in his neck.

One of the Insectobots approached him, and once it was close enough Sandstorm grabbed its head. And suddenly his lower jaw divided into monstrous mandibles and a long, bladed tongue emerged from his mouth, the same as Thundertron. He sucked the Insectobot's energon, which shrieked in pain as the rest lined up to be next.


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter Sixty- Evolution**

It was a stormy night when the Ark arrived to a certain location. Optimus descended to a cave's entrance alongside Elita One, followed by Bumblebee who changed to robot form too.

"What's this? An abandoned mine?" He asked.

"Come with us, Bumblebee." Optimus said.

The three Autobots entered the cave and arrived to a huge chamber.

"So, you admit that was only your fault for what happened in the Ark?" Elita asked.

"Absolutely. But I already said that no one saw that coming. Who could have foreseen that this alternative super soldier experiment could make such mess?"

"Resulting in the loss of the Insectobot hive and over half our remaining troops!" Optimus added.

Bee began to fear the worst, so he fell to his knees like defeated. "Alright. If this is what you want as my punishment, go ahead. Finish me once already."

That made Optimus groan for that exaggeration.

On the other hand, that made Elita laugh a little. "Don't be so dramatic, Bumblebee. No one has summoned you here to eliminate you. We only wanted to show you something."

"Huh? Exactly what?"

Bee looked aside Optimus and saw that the chamber was full with cybertronian tech and scientist instrumental.

"Oh, Perceptor's off-site laboratory. Impressive, most impressive." Bee observed.

Optimus, Elita and Bumblebee walked between two large lines of cybertronian stasis chambers, each one with a Predacon inside. Once they reached half the way, Perceptor received them.

"The Predacon clones have almost fully evolved and will be combat ready within three solar cycles."

"Well done, Perceptor." Optimus congratulated, next he called through his com-link. "Ratchet, we're waiting."

"On our way, Optimus."

Ratchet and Smokescreen were descending through the Ark's elevator packing some cubes with green energon. The Predacon saw that from one of the Ark's sides. The elevator took both Autobots inside the chamber.

"Synthetic energon for you, my liege." Smokescreen said transporting a couple of cubes.

"Troops will be delivering my remaining supply to you." Ratchet added.

"Thank you, Ratchet. I will help you determine its value after Optimus Prime's Predacon army is ready for deployment." Perceptor said.

Then everyone heard advancing loud footsteps and shrieks, and saw the Predacon walking inside the chamber. Then it stopped and roared.

"Guys! You supposed to watch the Predacon, don't you?" Bee called through the com-link, but received no answer. "Unruly beast. You dare to room freely without permission?"

Bee hit the Predacon with a metal bar two times, but that made the Predacon roared at him, making him to fall back a few steps and falling back. The creature continued advancing at him, so Bee covered himself for any kind of injury, but then, the Predacon simply rose and transformed, adopting a less beastly robot form. Unlike the Autobots and Decepticons, its eyes remained yellow. That left everyone surprised and without words.

"What?" Bee asked surprised.

"Strike me again and I will bury that rod in your spark." The Predacon surprisingly said.

"I…I did not realize that the beast was capable of transformation." Bee said.

"Nor did we." Elita added looking at Perceptor.

"I am no beast." The Predacon cleared to Bumblebee before he approached to one of the stasis tubes.

"The ability to transformation is a fundamental part of cybertronian biology. We simply possessed no evidence that the Predacon species ever reached that evolutionary stage." Perceptor explained.

"Exactly, since they became extinct in the great cataclysm." Ratchet finished.

"And now we know." Smokescreen added.

"So the rumors are true. I will no longer be alone." The Predacon said observing the Predacon inside the tube.

"And I see you've been keeping secrets."

"It was not my intention to deceive you, lord Optimus Prime. I only recently became aware of my abilities. All I remember of my beginning is hunting…and battle…and the wounding of my pride. But I managed to shelter comfort in the comfortable company of the one called Grimlock. Thus I began to burn with questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? The warship's databanks provided historical fact, but still I possessed no memory of my own past. So I began to reconsider my place in the present and wondered, could I be like the others? And now I know."

"Yet you are unique, a miracle of science. Cloned by Perceptor from cyber-nucleic acid recovered from the remains of your mighty ancestors." Optimus explained as they both continued looking one of the sleeping Predacons.

"Well, one thing is sure: Grimlock is going to be glad of this." Ratchet said.

Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base, Shockwave was working on something on the computer.

"Shockwave, what is the current status of your synthetic energon experiments?"

"Doing the best I can, captain, given the lack of functional equipment at my disposal."

"You do realize that an alternative energy source may be essential to our survival?" Dreadwing remembered.

Shockwave groaned. "Believe me, Dreadwing, no one is more acutely aware of the stakes than I am."

Dreadwing saw that he may irritate him a little. "Of course." He left him continued his work.

"Captain, if I were you I would not try to bother Shockwave or Soundwave with their issues. They know their roles inside the team better than anyone, there is no need for that kind of conversation with them. At least not without discuss it with lord Galvatron first." Starscream advised.

"Confirmed, commander." Dreadwing said before turning at the other Decepticons, who were working with another terminal. "Beast Hunters, may I ask why you are not currently scouting grid 305 for Predacon bones?"

"Because we just returned from surveying grids 301 to 304?" Airachnid explained.

"Ahem, to log our field reports, per your protocol, captain Dreadwing, sir." Breakdown added, so Dreadwing nodded.

"Juck! This thing is sticky! Next time you ask me for a special maintenance explain me first exactly what kind of labor does it consist." Knock Out argued as he and Astraea entered the base covered in some kind of green liquid. "Now I'm going to need a proper cleanup for my paintjob, I hope this is not corrosive for that."

"I could be worst, it could rust you." Slipstream joked.

"Soldiers, I don't recall giving you permission to leave the base." Dreadwing said.

"Because you didn't, sir." Astraea simply answered.

"For your information, sir, it was her idea." Knock Out defended.

"Why are your hands covered with coolant?" Dreadwing observed.

"We recalibrated your ship's engines. You can expect a 10% increase in vectored thrust." Astraea explained, leaving Dreadwing without words.

Right then, Galvatron arrived and returned to his robot form before entering the base. Everyone went to receive their leader with enthusiasm.

"What news do you have, lord Galvatron?" Starscream asked.

"Autobot activity is at a lull. I fear that Optimus may have collected the specimens he requires to…" Galvatron stopped as he noticed Dreadwing alone looking at how everyone received him. "Clone his army."

Aboard the Ark, everyone was still surprised about the Predacon's new ability and intelligence. Right now the Predacon was walking inside the warship alongside Optimus Prime, followed by the other main Autobots.

"It is with deepest gratitude for my creation that I pledge undying obedience to you, my one true master. But with more of my species soon to stride among us, I beg your permission to, in return, lead them…as Predaking." The Predacon said, giving himself a new identity.

"Your vision is boundless." Optimus said. "If you excuse me now, Predaking, I have other business to run, so I assigned my second in command to show you the rest of our facilities. Grimlock."

"As you wish, my liege." Grimlock agreed before he started to walk alongside Predaking. "From king to king, I must say it is a great honor to know that you are more similar to us that the majority believed."

"I really appreciate that, Grimlock. Giving the fact that we both are the only beast machines super soldiers around, it's good to finally be able to communicate with you the same way."

"Now that we know each other better, I could show you better ways to fight our enemies in your new form, and some advices to lead your brethren. Same as I did with mine." Grimlock offered.

"Learning from the mighty Dinobots? The ones who caused more fear to those Decepticons that managed to escape from me? It would be my pleasure." Predaking accepted.

As the two beast robots continued their conversation, Optimus and the other Autobots met inside the energon store vault, in a clandestine meeting.

"Just anyone could remind me why all we are inside here?" Smokescreen asked.

"To discuss the recent events that surrounds our Predacon." Ratchet answered.

"Indeed, old friend." Optimus agreed. "Our former beast may fully believe himself to be a loyal servant today, but trust me... the moment our loyal highness realizes that his army possesses greater might than what currently remains of the Autobots…"

"Evolution will give way to revolution." Elita finished.

"I am left with no choice but to eradicate the Predacon clones, before they are provided the opportunity to eradicate us." Optimus proclaimed.

"Lord Optimus Prime, you're not saying you intend to pull the plug on Perceptor's beloved Project Predacon?" Smokescreen asked.

"Actually, I can see the point of your argument, my liege." Perceptor agreed.

"At last we agreed on the same thing." Arcee said cheered.

"Yeah, it's time to teach that brute its place among us." Bulkhead followed.

"We already had enough surprises with this one, I couldn't endure the pressure of more transforming smart Predacons proving themselves better than we." Wheeljack added.

"But what happens if that fire-breathing brute discovers our treachery?" Smokey pointed.

"Ahem. Why assume that we will be the ones to perform the deed? After all, if the Predaking were to discover that, say, the Decepticons, were responsible for wiping out his comrades, our resident beast might, in turn, destroy our hated enemies for us…or, they, him." Bumblebee suggested, making Optimus smirk.

"Excellent idea. One more thing, I think it would be better to not tell Grimlock a word about this, giving the fact about his growing new friendship with Predaking. I don't want to put against us our only living Dinobot." Optimus reminded.

"That could made the dinosaur support the dragon, and knowing the destruction those two can perform alone, imagine what could happen if those two battle together against a common foe." Elita supported.

At the same time, Dreadwing was seeing the soldiers' normal routine outside the base.

"Dreadwing." Galvatron called as he approached him. "Something has been troubling you."

"I fear that my command style may be having a negative effect on unit morale." He explained.

"Your service is most welcome, old friend. But this is not the Seeker armada." Galvatron reminded.

"Things have changed since the war for Cybertron. Since my twin's demise."

"I know that marked a hard moment in your life. But like that we must adapt to this change. The members of our team are not cogs in a machine. They have grown into something greater than an army. They have become…"

But before he could finish his line, the alarm sounded.

"Galvatron, our scanners have detected exposed energon." Soundwave reported.

"With our reserves at a critical low, we cannot afford not to investigate." Galvatron said.

A lot of Autobot troops were taking out from a cave a lot of magnetic trolleys full with energon.

"Autobots, step away from the energon and surrender!" Galvatron advised from the edge of a cliff above them.

The Autobots' answer was simply, shot them. As response, Galvatron and the Seekers changed to their vehicle forms and charged against them. They fired their vehicles weapons, both laser shots and missiles, taking down the tanks and heavy soldiers. Once they were close they returned to robot form and continued firing their big guns, Dreadwing even launched his sword at them. Once she landed, Slipstream used her whips to grab the nearest Bot and pulled him close to her, before Dreadwing smashed him with both fists. The Autobots tried to fall back, but some of them received shots from behind, and saw the rest of the Decepticons coming at them attacking in vehicle form: Breakdown fired laser shots and missiles from his turret; Knock Out fired his laser guns of his car mode; Astraea fired two laser cannons at both sides of her vehicle form; Airachnid fired her missiles and laser shots in helicopter form; Stinger's alt mode showed two laser cannons at his sides and a small missile launcher on his front; Flamewar fired two laser guns at his sides and Kickback fired laser shots in his bug form. Once they were close enough they changed to their robot form, continuing the attack. Breakdown used his hammers for close combat with the guardians; Knock Out used his improved electric staff; Airachnid used her laser handgun to cut three Autobots; Stinger used his portable shield and neutron assault rifle; Kickback used his phase shifter to tackle one of the Autobot guardians and left him stuck in a rock; Flamewar eliminated the remaining enemies with her flamethrowers. The last Autobot was shot down by Galvatron's fusion cannon, next the Decepticons examined the secured energon.

"Look at all that sweet fuel." Flamewar said grabbing a small energon crystal.

"Stealth team, transport our cargo back to base. Seekers, reconnoiter the mine." Galvatron instructed.

"If I may suggest, sir, we Insecticons used to be good looking for energon, especially inside confined locations like mines and caves." Kickback suggested.

At the end Galvatron accepted Kickback's request to accompany the Seekers inside the caves.

"Still no energon signals." Kickback reported.

"And no additional security. Something doesn't smell right." Slipstream said.

"Yeah. It's like there's something out of place." Starscream agreed before the group saw that the cave path divide into two tunnels. "We better divide from here. We'll take this way."

Starscream and Kickback took the left path while Slipstream and Dreadwing went for the right. It seemed for Slipstream and Dreadwing that they came across with something when they spotted a strong light inside a huge chamber. They looked around to see a lot of stasis tubes with cybertronian dragon like creatures inside.

"Well, this is more than I expected." Slipstream said looking at one of the creatures.

"Prime's cloning operation seems further along than we anticipated." Dreadwing realized.

Dreadwing inspected the area, seeing not only the Predacons but also the synthetic energon cubes, and even Perceptor at the lab's control panel. But he saw the Decepticons very quick, so he fired his shoulder cannon at them, forcing the Decepticons to find some cover before responding to his shots.

"Ratchet, the Decepticons have arrived. You did not inform me that your plan was already in motion." Perceptor reported by com-link.

"Only so the whole affair would appear less staged." He answered, but Bumblebee also present.

"I have yet to purge my lab of sensitive materials."

"Then do not let us keep you, Perceptor. Over and out." Bumblebee said before he hung up. "Now admit it. You wanted to scrap him on purpose all this time, don't you?"

Ratchet only smirked. Perceptor knew that he could not hold against the Decepticons too long.

"Blaster, I require an immediate ground bridge." Perceptor requested through the com-link.

Perceptor pressed a button that sent waves of electricity to all the stasis pods. As the Decepticons saw that, he gained enough time to reach the ground bridge and disappear. Dreadwing saw the stasis pods releasing all the yellow liquid inside, which started to spread all over the floor. As part of the plan, Cliffjumper went to inform Grimlock, who was still walking alongside Predaking.

"General Grimlock, it seems Project Predacon has fallen into Decepticon hands." Cliff reported.

"What?!" Grimlock yelled.

"How is this possible?" Predaking asked.

"We haven't much time. Quick, scramble the armada." Grimlock ordered.

"Right away, sir." Cliff said as he ran for it.

"No! If my brethren are imperiled, I will confront the enemy." Predaking offered.

"Then go for it, Predaking. Save your kind, not like I couldn't. And show those Decepticons what we ancient kings are capable of!" Grimlock encouraged.

Slipstream and Dreadwing saw when the stasis pods were almost without liquid the Predacons began to awaken, and they didn't look friendly. Both Seekers seemed like they didn't know what to do, until Slipstream saw the synthetic energon boxes, what gave her and idea.

"Permission to employ an explosive in a confined space, sir?" She suggested.

"If you and I are all that stand between these monsters and the natives of this planet, then by all means, blow these beasts back to the Rust Age." Dreadwing authorized.

Slipstream activated the missile and launched it near the energon boxes, with a timer running. Both Seekers transformed and flew right to the exit. Once the timer was over, the missile exploded, causing the enegon boxes to explode too. Once they almost reached another huge chamber, a ground bridge appeared in front of the Seekers, forcing them to change to robot form. Then a huge bronze and black robot, unknown for them, came through. The resulting explosion was huge that it covered the whole chamber, and consumed the Predacon before they escaped from their pods.

"Who's this guy?" Slipstream asked.

"The very same who has previously allowed you to live, but will not today." Predaking answered.

"He's the Predacon." Dreadwing realized seeing the Predacon symbol in the center of his torso.

Then they saw the explosion coming behind them so they jumped out of the way. At the same time outside, the rest of the Decepticons ended transporting all the energon back to base and Starscream and Kickback went outside. Then the entrance shook with great intensity.

"Whoa. What was that?" Kickback asked.

"I don't know. I only hope that Slipstream and Dreadwing were not in the epicenter of whatever caused that tremor." Starscream said worried.

Galvatron knew too those shakes could not mean anything good. Back inside the cave, Predaking stood in the same place as he saw the tunnel where the Seekers came from covered in flames.

"What have you done to my brethren?" Predaking asked in shock before he turned at the Seekers with rage. "What have you done?!"

Enraged, Predaking roared charging at them. The Seekers fired at him, but he jumped and tried to smash them, but they dodged. Despite that, Predaking followed Dreadwing, who tried to shot him, and hit him too hard that he sent him to one of the cave's pillars before going after Slipstream. She tried to shot him, but he grabbed her and threw her to the ceiling, hitting her hard that she fell to the floor while Predaking charged against her again.

"Alright. Let's dance." She said recovering up.

Predaking jumped and tried to hit her again, but she rolled out of the way and continued evading his hits until she jumped above him and used a rock to impulse herself and tackled the Predacon. While he was on the ground, she jumped away, landed and approached Predaking, who received her punch on the face, followed by a fast kick on the chest. She took the chance and pulled out her whips to strike him again, but Predaking dodged her and pushed her hard against the wall. Once she was lying on the floor, Predaking started punching her continuingly, but then Dreadwing jumped behind him and kicked him hard, sending him against a rock. But before he jumped and prepared his sword to hit him again, Predaking pushed him aside very hard. Predaking climbed a pillar to prepare another hit, but Dreadwing had enough time to grab a big rock and hit Predaking before he could strike. As he was still dizzy, Dreadwing hit him again and sent him against another wall, but Predaking recovered immediately and tried to hit him, but Dreadwing rolled away and hit him once again. Predaking was ready for another hit, but instead, Dreadwing grabbed one of his back's spikes and pushed him against a pillar. He ready his fists to finish his opponent, but Predaking dodged in the last moment and pushed him against the pillar before throwing him at other one. As Dreadwing was recovering, he saw Predaking coming at him very fast before he hit him with a rock that hit him hard. But before Predaking could finish him, Slipstream flew toward them in vehicle mode, next she changed to robot form and launched one of her whips, already full of electricity, at the rock Predaking was holding, taking it from him. Next she swung the rock around and redirected it back to him, hitting him hard. Predaking recovered fast and charged at them again, so Slipstream launched two missiles at him. The missiles impacted, but Predaking covered himself with his arm, but that gave her time enough for their move: she hooked one of her whips to Dreadwing's sword, so when Predaking saw it coming it was too late. The impact was too intense that cause Predaking to fall to the ground. Both Seekers knew that was their chance to strike him hard, so they nodded to each other before charging against their opponent. Once he stood up, Predaking charged at them too. Dreadwing threw Slipstream with his hand high, allowing her to grab Predaking's neck with her whips before pulling him back. Predaking managed to free himself, but Slipstream took advantage and kicked him on the face, disorienting him. Dreadwing took the chance and hit him on the face too with his sword, followed by another punch from Slipstream, another hit from Dreadwing, a double kick from Slipstream and another hit from Dreadwing and one more time. That sent Predaking to the wall, before Slipstream kicked him again and fired at his back while Dreadwing hit him again. Slipstream jumped over a rock and started firing both lasers and missiles at one huge stalactite of the ceiling, Dreadwing followed her move and pulled out his cannons and fired too. The stalactite ended falling over above Predaking, making them believe that they defeated him. But then, the stalactite started moving, and ended hitting the Seekers. Slipstream tried to stand up, but immediately she saw Predaking coming holding the stalactite above his head, using it to smash her. Dreadwing saw her between many rocks and his sword close to him, so he tried to reach for it. But in the moment he grabbed it, Predaking jumped above him and landed above him, and stomped on his chest, causing him to scream in pain. As result, Dreadwing's chest looked much damaged, and he was even losing energon through it.

"And here I was just beginning to accept you." Slipstream confessed.

"It's being an honor serving beside you, soldier. Soon I will be with my twin." Dreadwing accepted.

"Prepare to perish." Predaking declared as he prepared the final strike.

But then, Galvatron pushed him hard in time, causing Predaking to hit two pillars. Next Galvatron used his gladiator bowler to destroy more pillars to make fall more rocks above Predaking. But Predaking managed to set free easily, but he saw Galvatron, with Slipstream and Dreadwing already secured with both hands, flying out of the cave.

"What? NO!" He cursed as he started chasing them.

Galvatron exited the cave, followed by Predaking, who changed to his dragon form and started chasing him flying. Galvatron saw him, but he saw a ground bridge opening in front of him, so he continued his way while Predaking launched a fireball at him, but it was already too late. The Decepticons disappeared with the portal, making Predaking roar in fury. Dreadwing woke up back in the Decepticon base, and saw that Knock Out was working with the injury of his chest.

"Knock Out will take good care of you." Galvatron reassured.

The other Decepticons were present, even Slipstream, who looked less hurt than him.

"Are you sure you're alright, Slipstream?" Starscream asked.

"Absolutely, it's not me the one that I'm worried about. Dreadwing acted like a true Seeker, at last." She said.

"Galvatron, when we spoke earlier. What could be greater than an army?" Dreadwing reminded.

"A human concept, one I have learned since coming to Earth. Family." Galvatron answered, looking at all his team, who stood around Dreadwing.

Meanwhile, in the Ark's bridge…

"Do not despair, my friend. I know what it feels like to be the last of your species." Grimlock started while Predaking growled in fury. "For I vow to you that the Decepticons will pay dearly for the outrage against your kind."

The other Autobots smirked in secret for what really happened.

"Thank you, Grimlock." Predaking appreciated.

"Grimlock, accompany Predaking to a more calm place, in order to digest this traumatic experience." Optimus instructed.

"Yes, my liege."

Grimlock left the bridge alongside Predaking.

"Perceptor, report."

"It is true, my liege. Project Predacon has been rendered null and void. At least, I have been unable to recover any beast forms. However, there is something you must behold for yourself."

That intrigued Optimus, so he, Ratchet and Bumblebee traveled through the ground bridge to inside the caves.

"By the Allspark." Ratchet saw in disbelief.

"What is this?" Bee asked.

Right in front of them there was a huge pile of metal pieces.

"Pure cybertronian cyber-matter. Not unlike that which one existed upon our primeval home world." Perceptor explained.

"Of that which engendered our citadel here on Earth." Ratchet deduced.

"The result of the explosion?" Optimus asked.

"Indeed, yet the cyber-nucleic acid alone cannot account for these cyberforms. All possible precise points to the presence of one unexpected variable: synthetic energon." Perceptor finished pointing at some remains of the green liquid.

Optimus smirked a little, knowing that this could lead to another chance to achieve victory.


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter Sixty One- Research**

The Autobots were still observing the cybertronian metal created by the previous explosion, but now even Elita One and Grimlock were there too.

Grimlock hit the metal three times, and stopped seeing that it didn't break. "Awesome, it is truly cybertronian."

"Indeed it is, Grimlock. Simply put, this combination of elements could allow us to cyberform entire worlds." Perceptor analyzed.

"I'm sure Perceptor already has a plan coming on."

But Bumblebee made a huge mistake saying that, because in the moment Perceptor nodded to Grimlock the Dinobot pushed Bee hard, making him fall to the ground before stomping him with his foot, but not to harm him, only to push him against the floor. Next he grabbed Ratchet with his hand.

"Do you really think that because I'm a Dinobot I am not able to see your tricks?! The same as you thought about Predaking?!"

"No no no. What are you talking about?" Ratchet asked nervous.

"What Grimlock was referring, Ratchet, is that I knew that you left me at the mercy of the Decepticons." Perceptor remembered mad.

"Master, are you going to allow your second in command to harm your medic?" Ratchet asked while Bumblebee, who only managed to groan under Grimlock's foot, was trying to support him. But not either Optimus and Elita answered. "Optimus?!"

"This is between you only, old friend."

"This should be interesting." Elita added.

Grimlock approached Ratchet against one of the cybertronian pieces, a spike.

"Perhaps Grimlock would like to show you my perception of things." Perceptor menaced as Grimlock was approaching Ratchet's face against the spike.

"Okay, okay! I accept that we allow the enemy to get too close, but it was only to make them believe that they were not jumping into a trap! Besides, thanks to that we allow this accident to happen! If I remember, you were seeking to purge your laboratory of sensitive materials before the Decepticons arrived, were you not?!" Ratchet defended.

"Hum. You know? Your answer has a fair point of view." Perceptor accepted.

Because of that, Grimlock released Ratchet and Bumblebee, who started coughing up mud.

"That is what I expected from all of you, exemplary teamwork besides all differences." Optimus congratulated.

"Now tell me, Perceptor. Why this cyber-matter resembles chaos?" Elita asked.

"The basic elements are apparently unstable. I will turn my attention to correcting that. Of course, Ratchet, I will require your help, since you have been studding this substance more time than I."

"It's true that I learned a lot of this element. But sincerely, I didn't expect something like this could happen, a least from the knowledge I recollected." Ratchet said.

"Nevertheless, should we use this cyber-matter to restore Cybertron, or cyberform Earth, we would require a launch mechanism. Would we not?" Bee pointed.

"Then we will focus all our remaining resources upon the successful reconstruction of the Omega Lock." Optimus declared.

Meanwhile, inside the Decepticon base, everyone saw Knock Out's efforts in fixing Dreadwing's chest, even the children, who were worried.

"I've done everything I can, considering the limitations of my equipment and less than ideal spare parts." Knock Out said as he showed how he repaired Dreadwing's chest: the cockpit now looked with a form similar to the previous one, but a little more different and rigid. "I'm not sure if Dreadwing's new cockpit will allow him to change form…in that case he will only need the needed time to assimilated it to its configuration with little practices."

"That is all we can hope for, my friend." Galvatron reassured.

"You are doing okay?" Starscream asked to his sister.

"I'm only a little scratched." She answered.

"So's Dreadwing." Starscream said.

"Wait and see. That new piece's gonna become his signature. You know, like the way you own that voice box Knock Out slapped in your throat!" Kickback said to Stinger, trying to cheer up everyone.

"( **What? Do you think I like to sound like a computer?!** )" Stinger asked mad.

"I mean, you know, everyone understands you fine! Why would you even consider getting it fixed now, am I right?" Kickback continued.

"( **Cut it off! You better not pick where you should not. I don't want to forget how I spoke when I was complete.** )" Stinger said as he walked away.

"Whoa, what'd he say?" Miko asked.

"Sting's kind of still attached to the sound of his own voice, his original one." Raf explained.

"Hey, look at the bright shiny side: captain Dreadwing and Starscream's sister single-handedly put the Kibosh on Project Predacon." Breakdown reminded.

"Though at least one beast that we know of remains: the one who has demonstrated the ability to transform." Galvatron pointed.

Speaking of Predaking, he was in the Ark's bridge, by request of Optimus Prime.

"Predaking, we will soon plot our strike against the Decepticons, to punish them for the massacre of your kind." Optimus said.

"While I fully intend to exact my revenge, Project Predacon was merely a squadron, not an army."

"I see." Optimus noticed.

"Really?" Grimlock asked interested.

"My liege, if you truly aspire to restore our home world, then I have every faith that you will resurrect the entirety of the Predacon race from the remains which lie there, so that I may lead them against any and all of our shared enemies." Predaking proclaimed.

"You have great vision, my friend. Then when that time arrives, I will be glad to help you to secure that goal. A shame that I can't get the Dinobots back the same way." Grimlock supported.

Optimus seemed a little upset with that revelation. Moments later, he was with Perceptor and Ratchet in their lab.

"We salvaged much of the wreckage of the Omega Lock, but the damage was quite severe." Ratchet reported showing a hologram of the structure.

"We would urge the selective use of Earth technology, retro-fitting its operating systems will be more efficient than rebuilding from scratch." Perceptor added.

"Then do provide Grimlock with your wish list." Optimus told them before he turned at the Dinobot king. "Since Perceptor and Ratchet must turn their attention to the stabilization of our cyber-matter, you will be in charge of acquisitions."

"As you wish my liege."

Time later, in the Decepticon base…

"Galvatron! We have trouble. The Bots made an incursion at the Los Alamos nuclear plant late last night, and left with 20 tons of control rods." Silas reported.

"What are the Autobots looking to build?" Starscream asked.

Meanwhile, inside the Autobots' lab…

"Optimus, I have determine that the synthetic energon formula provided by Ratchet is the source of the instability, simply because it is incomplete." Perceptor reported.

"Then make haste and complete it. We will not only require enough cyber-matter to rebuild one planet, but to remake a second." Optimus declared.

But before he left the lab, Perceptor stopped him. "Master, excuse my imprudence, but what is the point of ruling two worlds?"

"It has taken me quite some time to fully comprehend that Earth and Cybertron have always been linked, two halves of one whole, Primus and Unicron. And that to rule only one, would be to never truly rule either." Optimus explained.

Back to the Decepticon base…

"Galvatron! It's Bots again, but this time in progress." Silas reported.

"Coordinates received, agent Silas." Soundwave said before opening the ground bridge.

"Let's rise." Dreadwing pronounced.

"Hum, sorry captain, but I can't authorize you to join the combat while I'm unsure that your ability to change form its fully operational." Knock Out stopped, while Dreadwing looked his chest.

"I'm afraid that Knock Out's authority supersedes my own in medical matters." Galvatron told.

Dreadwing sighed. "Understood."

Before everyone departed, Slipstream felt sorrow for Dreadwing. The Autobot engineers were leaving another nuclear plant, transporting materials while a couple of guardians covered them. Then they saw all the Decepticons; except Knock Out, Shockwave and Dreadwing, coming through the ground bridge in vehicle form. Unfortunately Blaster was above them and behind them, so he summoned his ground bridge next to the Autobot troops. The Autobot guardians shot at the Decepticons while they continued their approach, so Blaster sent Sundor to intercept Galvatron. But in the last moment Soundwave stopped and turned around, so Sundor followed him and shot. But in the last moment, Galvatron appeared in robot mode; using his jet-packs, in front of him and punched him hard, sending the Minibot back to the ground. The Decepticons tried to hit the Autobots with their guns, but the guardians received all the shots and allowed the engineers to escape with the supplies. Blaster started to turn around, but Soundwave saw him and followed him. Blaster evaded all the laser shots from his rival, but he didn't notice that Soundwave had new weapons: two sonic cannons appeared in his wings. He charged them up and fired two strong sound projectiles that hit Blaster hard, sending him to crash landed above two electric towers.

"Whoa." Flamewar said when everyone returned to robot form.

Blaster tried to get up, but a lot of electricity flowed through his body, knocking him out. But Sundor was still in the air, so he retreated while the Decepticons gathered around the Autobot.

"Shockwave, reopen the ground bridge. But ensure that the humans are kept at a safe distance, for we will be returning with an Autobot prisoner." Galvatron instructed by com-link.

Back inside the base, Blaster woke up chained on an operating table; he tried to set free, but with no exit.

"Don't even try, Blaster. Not even you can sneak through those chains." Soundwave warned.

"Because we had the foresight to shield our new base our captive will be unable to transmit his coordinates to the Autobot warship." Shockwave reassured.

"Nor will they in turn, be able to pinpoint his location." Starscream added.

"Guess we have all the time in the world to make Autobot Soundwave tell us everything he knows. But I will allow his rival the honors." Astraea said.

"You can count on that. Soundwave and Blaster have a close story between them as rivals." Knock Out said.

"The Bots surveillance chief must know a lot, right?" Jack asked while agent Silas joined them.

"But Blaster doesn't speak, unlike Soundwave. Does he?" Miko asked.

"I'm not sure he even has a face." Raf added.

"Trust me. He have his own, the same as I have mine." Soundwave clarified.

Blaster's capture was noticed in the Ark too.

"With Sundor unable to triangulate Blaster's current location, are you not concerned about what our comrade might spill?" Grimlock asked.

"Of one thing I'm certain. Blaster knows when to impart information, and when to withhold it." Optimus reassured.

"He is the only one who can match Soundwave, even when he intends to pull out his secrets." Elita added.

Meanwhile, Galvatron started interrogating Blaster.

"Why is Optimus Prime stealing human technology? What is he attempting to build?" Galvatron asked.

Blaster simply repeated some parts of Galvatron's questions, a little modified with electronic sounds.

"Whoa, Galvatron: the remix." Miko simply said.

Next Blaster showed a smiling face on his screen.

Starscream sighed. "I hate when he does those annoying tricks."

Breakdown pulled out his hammer. "Oh yeah? Why don't I wipe that smile right off his face?"

"Blaster, we have treated you fairly. For the sake of the natives of this planet, tell us what Optimus is attempting to build, before we are forced to rely upon less civil methods of interrogation." Galvatron warned as Starscream prepared his claws.

As response, Blaster increased his own sound waves, causing hurt to everyone, until Soundwave managed to counteract him with his own, even hurting him.

Slipstream sighed relieved. "Good trick, Soundwave."

"Like me, Blaster is no ordinary cybertronian, inside or out."

"In that case I would strongly suggest opening him up so we can have a first-hand look at the information recorded on his drives." Starscream suggested, despite some of the Decepticons saw it very extreme.

Next Blaster's screen showed a lot of words.

"Uh oh." Airachnid said.

"All right, he's downloading data." Breakdown said.

"No. Blaster is erasing data." Soundwave corrected.

It only took him a couple of seconds to erase all his data.

"Hahahahahahaha, who is superior now, Soundwave?" Blaster mocked, with his own voice, leaving everyone without words.

Soundwave was about to use his electrified tentacles, but before he could Blaster's screen turned off and he looked like dead, so Soundwave simply punched his head.

"Curse you, Blaster!" Soundwave cursed.

"Easy, old friend." Galvatron tranquilized putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, lord Galvatron. He is the only one who knows how to make me lose control."

"I know how you are feeling. The same happened to me with Jetfire." Starscream supported.

"Is he…?" Kickback asked.

Knock Out scanned Blaster. "No. His vital signs remain functional."

"It seems he has simply severed all communications by crashing his own drives." Shockwave realized.

Meanwhile, aboard the Ark…

"Optimus, I have located the one item upon this world which possesses enough raw tonnage to power the reconstructed Omega Lock: a particle collider's synchrotron." Ratchet reported.

"Excellent, old friend."

"However, we still have a problem: the successful completion of the synthetic energon formula is proving to be far more difficult than anticipated." Perceptor reported.

"Ratchet, you first procured this unfinished shamble from the Decepticon medic, did you not?" Elita asked.

"Indeed, Elita."

"Then the most efficient means to an end may very well be to recruit that medic." Optimus decided.

"If I may suggest you, my liege, I believe there is other Decepticon who may be more useful for this issue than Knock Out. I propose you to recruit the smartest Decepticon present here on Earth: Shockwave." Perceptor offered.

"Attempting to abduct the one Decepticon who rarely leaves their base." Bee analyzed.

"A base we have yet to locate may prove to be a challenge." Cliff followed.

"You forget that we currently have an agent within the Decepticon base." Elita reminded.

"Sundor could reconnect with Blaster and upload his directive to him." Ratchet said.

"Which would still require knowing the location of their base." Grimlock said.

"It is my understanding that Blaster kept surveillance records of more than just the human children." Perceptor remembered.

Perceptor was referring to other persons like agent Silas, who was currently driving in his car talking through com-link.

"Galvatron, these recent Bots heists have general Bryce breathing down my neck. So I need to reunite with him again to explain him the situation."

"Understood, agent Silas. And rest assured, should our prisoner return online we will resume our interrogation." Galvatron informed as he looked at Blaster, still offline.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll get back to base as soon as possible." Silas said.

Silas continued his way, but he wasn't aware that Sundor was following him from the sky. Back in the Ark, Optimus Prime and Grimlock were waiting for someone.

"You summoned me, lord Optimus Prime?" Predaking asked.

"I require your services. Since we anticipated a Decepticon presence at our next event." Optimus explained.

"I welcome any opportunity to face the one called Galvatron again, warrior to warrior." Predaking declared, making Optimus mad.

"You pride yourself on your evolution, yet you have learned nothing! I may have lost my surveillance chief today. The Decepticons have expanded their forces, while ours continue to dwindle." Optimus shouted.

"Then I shall simply battle twice as fiercely." Predaking reassured.

"As a beast." Optimus said.

"He's right, Predaking. When I woke up as a Dinobot I already knew how good I was as a warrior. But when I experienced the power of my beast form, I discovered where my true power resided." Grimlock told him.

"And that is an advantage that you must exploit." Optimus said.

"Then I will do it. I swear." Predaking said.

"But not alone. This time we'll face him together." Grimlock added, making Predaking smile.

Time later, Silas's was still driving.

"I'm on my way to the base, but I just got word. The Bots busted into the Solaris Particle Collider Project at the South Pole." Silas reported.

"Decepticons." Galvatron started.

Dreadwing checked his chest's cockpit, which looked more stable for transformation.

"Ah, not you." Knock Out stopped.

"Knock Out, I think you are overacting." Slipstream interrupted.

"Huh? Explain yourself." Knock Out demanded.

"The captain may not be able to change form anymore, but he still can fight as any of us. So he's ready for me." She defended.

"Fine, okay. But if you are wrong you will carry the guilt." Knock Out warned.

Dreadwing smiled at Slipstream, the same as her.

"I never believed that it would arrive the day in which you and Dreadwing get along." Starscream said surprised.

"Who knows? Cons change, once they manage to know others better." She answered.

"Breakdown, Kickback, Flamewar, Knock Out, remain here with Shockwave to guard our prisoner. Everyone else, transform and rise up." Galvatron instructed.

Shockwave activated the ground bridge and part of the Decepticon team transformed and went through the portal.

"Can't we throw a tarp over him? He's creeping me out." Knock Out suggested looking at Blaster.

"Yeah. It's like he's watching, no matter where you go." Breakdown supported.

"Instead of thinking if Blaster can see or not you could help me figure out what he did not tell? Like why Optimus would be interested in something believed to generate enough power to create a black hole." Shockwave said.

Agent Silas already arrived to the base, but Sundor followed him all the way to the base. Meanwhile, inside the base…

"Black holes? So Prime's looking to swallow up the known universe." Flamewar suggested.

"And everything in it." Kickback added.

"No, not that. He would merely want to harness the power of something capable of swallowing worlds, in order to…create one. Oh no." Shockwave said, realizing what Optimus Prime's intention was.

In the South Pole, the other Decepticons already found the research facility, with a big hole, revealing that the Autobots were already in there.

"What can I say? Doc Knock's work was a success. You still can change form and vice versa." Astraea said noticing when they arrived Dreadwing was in vehicle mode too.

"Galvatron, I know this hardly seems the time but it may aid you in your task." Shockwave told by com-link, so Galvatron signaled everyone to stop.

"Go ahead." He authorized.

"I believe that Optimus Prime may be attempting to rebuild the Omega Lock." Shockwave reported.

"Do we let him?" Starscream asked because he heard the new too.

"No. For you know as well as I that Optimus will use a reconstructed lock to cyberform both Cybertron and Earth. And that is one abuse of power that we cannot allow." Galvatron answered.

Starscream sighed in defeat. "Understood."

The Decepticons continued their way to the facility. But the light of the moon showed a flying figure coming at them: it was Predaking in dragon form. He roared, alerting the Decepticons of his presence, before he charged and fired a huge fireball at them.

"Down!" Starscream shouted.

All the Decepticons jumped out of the way, except Galvatron, who pulled out his fusion cannon and fired at Predaking, but he managed to dodge all the shots and passed above them. Once the other Decepticons got up they aimed their weapons at the Predacon, but Galvatron signaled them to don't.

"The Autobots must not be allowed to secure their target." He ordered while Predaking started to turn around back toward them. "I will engage the Predacon."

Despite his orders, Stinger and Soundwave looked each still not sure.

"If that is your decision, we must respect it." Starscream accepted before looking at the others. "Come on."

"You heard our leader. Forge ahead." Dreadwing ordered.

The Decepticons ran toward the entrance, with Airachnid in last place since she was a little worried, but she joined at the end. Predaking flew towards Galvatron, so he prepared his fusion cannon, and fired. Predaking evaded the shots with some acrobatics. Once he was close enough, he fired more fire another fire ball, but Galvatron waited until the last moment, activated his jet-pack and took flight. That mode, alongside the continued shots made Predaking to crash landed, but he recovered fast and pursued Galvatron in the air. Galvatron continued firing at him while he continued his approach, and when he launched another fire ball Galvatron circled in the air to evade the shot. In the moment he ended circling, Galvatron changed to his vehicle form and tackled Predaking, pushing him back. Next he threw him and fired repetitively his heavy laser cannons, sending Predaking against an ice wall. He continued firing lasers and missiles, causing more ice pieces to fall above Predaking, but he roared and charged against Galvatron again, grabbing him and forcing him to return to robot form. Besides pushing against the buildings, Predaking scratched his claws on Galvatron's head before trying to bit him, but Galvatron grabbed his jaws and hold it back. But when he saw that Predaking was charging to launch fire again, he swung the Predacon's head to another direction, making that the emerging fire disoriented him, allowing Galvatron to set free and continue shooting his opponent suspended in the air with his jet-pack. But despite receiving a lot of shots, Predaking managed to hit Galvatron with his tail, making him to crash land hard on the ice. Meanwhile, inside the facility, the Decepticons walked inside the corridors. Then, at the end of the hall, there were a lot of Autobot troops, waiting for them. One heavy soldier tried to shot at Dreadwing, but Astraea deflected the shot with her chainsaw sword in time. Now the Decepticons needed to make their way in by eliminating all the Autobots.

"Somebody knew we were coming." Astraea deduced.

"You think?" Airachnid answered.

Deep inside the facility, the Autobot engineers were working on the structure, alongside Perceptor, when they heard the shots sound coming from inside the tunnel. Meanwhile, in the Decepticon base…

"Shockwave, it may not be with the forge or the Omega Lock, but we're gonna find a way to get our planet repaired." Kickback said, trying to cheer him up.

"I appreciate your concern, Kickback. We must believe that there is still hope for Cybertron." Shockwave appreciated.

Then they turned to see agent Silas entering the room. But then, Sundor entered from the window and started flying around the place.

"Oh scrap." Knock Out cursed.

Sundor fired at the Decepticons, but only to distract them while it shot at Blaster's chains. Immediately, Flamewar fired her flamethrowers at the Minibot at the same time as Kickback fired a storm of lasers from all his back's legs, hitting Sundor's wing, splicing at piece of it. But that didn't stop the Minibot, because next it tackled both Cons and evaded more shots before joining with Blaster's chest. That allowed the Autobot to recover all the information he erased. Breakdown readied his hammer to strike, but Blaster pushed him back with his arm. Kickback launched himself with his claws ready, but Blaster grabbed him by the chest with his tentacle and pushed him against another table before knocking him out with electricity. Next Blaster did the same with Breakdown while Flamewar tried to hit him with her long wrist swords, but he pushed her back so easily. Knock Out readied his electric staff, but Blaster managed to take it from him and stun him with only one hand. Silas was about to attack with one heavy gun, but Blaster swung him before he could fire, pushing him against the wall, knocking him too. Shockwave tried to shot his shock cannon, but Blaster threw at big metal piece that plugged the cannon's hole, so Shockwave only could see Blaster walking at him with his tentacles irradiating electricity.


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter Sixty Two- Persuasion**

In middle of the South Pole, near a research facility, Galvatron lied on the ground until he started to get up, but at the same time Predaking approached him and changed to his robot form, landing in front of him.

"It took a cataclysm to extinguish Cybertron's original Predacon inhabitants. You never stood a chance against me, Galvatron." Predaking said as he turned his hand into a blaster and started charging it, aiming at Galvatron's head. "In fact, the time has come for your extinction."

But Galvatron pushed the blaster aside and started punching Predaking continually. Meanwhile, the Autobot forces continued blocking the way to the Decepticons.

"This isn't working. At this rate, they will leave with what they have come for." Airachnid said.

"I have an idea." Slipstream suggested arming her missiles.

"What do you think, captain?" Starscream asked to Dreadwing, knowing what his sister was suggesting.

"Granted."

"Now!" Starscream shouted as he and Slipstream launched their missiles at the same time.

Perceptor and the other Autobots heard the sound of the explosion and looked at the tunnel. One of the Autobots' bodies was thrown inside the room, followed by the Decepticons in vehicle form and changing back to robot form to engage the enemy. The eliminated all the Autobots of the lower level, Perceptor saw it so he fired his cannon. Dreadwing saw him, so he pounced on him. The two started a close combat fight, but Dreadwing had the advantage since Perceptor had no much combat experience, but he managed to grab Dreadwing's hands after receiving a couple of hits.

"This is no place for a still injured Decepticon." Perceptor said noticing Dreadwing's torso.

But Dreadwing punched him again. "One war veteran is still more capable for fight with a few battle scars than one intact that hasn't fought enough." Next he pulled out his sword.

Galvatron continued punching Predaking and blocking his attacks until they both grabbed each other's' hands and tried to push the other back, but Galvatron head-butted Predaking hard, sending back a few steps.

"Stand down, Predacon." Galvatron advised.

"I am Predaking!" He corrected retrieving his blaster.

Then Galvatron heard a huge stomp behind him. He witnessed his eyes surprised seeing it was Grimlock.

"And we will never bow to your kind!" The Dinobot shouted.

Grimlock pulled out his sword and shield and charged against Galvatron, but he dodged him in the last second, making him to crash with Predaking. Galvatron pulled out his own sword to face Grimlock in melee combat, thing that he did too. The two robots battle in an epic duel: clashing their swords and Grimlock trying to smash Galvatron with his shield, but Galvatron managed to dodge his attacks fast enough to counterattack. He even managed to hit Grimlock's head with his bowler. The impact stunned Grimlock long enough for Galvatron to climb on top of him, grab his head and threw him to the ground. Once in the ground, Grimlock started receiving direct hit from Galvatron on his head.

"Grimlock!" Predaking yelled, already recovered.

Predaking charged and tackled Galvatron, sending him far enough for Grimlock to recover.

"If you challenge one king…" Predaking started while he offered his hand to Grimlock, which he grabbed, allowing him to get back on his feet.

"You challenge us all!" Grimlock finished.

Both Predacon and Dinobot charged against their rival and started a long line of punches and scratches, not giving Galvatron enough time to respond. Finally both of them changed to their reptile forms and hit Galvatron with both tails, sending him against an ice wall, knocking him out. Taking the chance, they started to charge to launch fire against the Decepticon leader.

"Predaking, Grimlock, I have been informed that our objective is at risk. Secure it. Now." Optimus ordered through the com-link.

"Don't worry, my friend. We'll have other chances to snuff off his spark. Right now, what matters most is the mission." Grimlock said.

Instead launching the fire against Galvatron, Predaking and Grimlock released to the air. Back inside, Dreadwing continued punching Perceptor continuously, blocking his attacks and hitting him hard in the chest, leaving him weakened. The other Decepticons neutralized the remaining enemies.

"Commander, objective secured." Astraea reported.

"Now might be a fine time for surrender." Starscream said walking towards Perceptor.

"A clever option, but not for me." Perceptor answered.

Right then, Predaking and Grimlock came from above them, putting themselves between Perceptor and the Decepticons. Both giant reptiles pushed back Starscream and Dreadwing. Slipstream and Airachnid tried to jump at them, but Grimlock hit them with his tail. Astraea, Soundwave and Stinger fired at them, but with not much effect, so Predaking hit them with his tail. Grimlock allowed Perceptor to ride above him while Predaking grabbed the large piece the Autobots were trying to get and hit it with his tail, separating it from the rest of the structure before taking flight with it, followed by Grimlock at foot. Back outside, Galvatron grumbled as he got up, a little disoriented as he saw both beasts disappearing in a ground bridge, before meeting with his team.

"Shockwave, we require immediate transport back to base." Soundwave called by com-link.

The calling to base woke up Silas from his unconsciousness.

"Huh?" He simply said.

"Shockwave, do you read?" Starscream called while the other Decepticons woke up.

"Starscream?"

"Knock Out. Is everything alright? Where's Shockwave?" Starscream asked he looked the entire room.

"He's…he's gone." Knock Out answered, making Starscream with surprised and worried eyes.

"And so as Blaster." Flamewar added.

Soundwave closed his fists in anger, knowing what happened: Blaster managed to leave the Decepticon base and took Shockwave with him. And now Shockwave was aboard the Ark, chained on an operating table, when a shadow woke him up.

"What do you want from me?" He asked, knowing that it was just Optimus Prime.

"Your assistance, actually. To help complete a little…science project." Optimus answered.

"I will never cooperate." Shockwave responded.

"Perceptor does not require your cooperation to siphon your knowledge, professor." Optimus clarified as Perceptor approached him a cortical physic patch cable.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons tried to find any clue about where Shockwave could be. But they only found the piece of Sundor's wing that Kickback sliced with his shots.

"Peeled some paint off Sundor. But if I were a better shot, Shockwave would still be here." Kickback lamented while Airachnid hold the piece.

"Chin up, soldier. We've combed the entire floor. For the moment, that remains our only clue." Dreadwing cheered up.

"Nothing in the ground bridge log. If they bridged Shockwave out of here, they used theirs, not ours." Knock Out informed.

"Why take Shockwave prisoner, but leave us four behind?" Flamewar asked.

"If Prime intends to hold our head scientist hostage, it's surprising that he's made no demands." Starscream observed.

"It would stand to reason that Shockwave must possess something the Autobots want." Galvatron realized.

"Well, whatever the Bots are after, Shockwave won't give it up." Breakdown encouraged crushing his fists. "Right?"

Back to the Ark, Predaking entered the bridge looking for Optimus, but he only found his sparkmate.

"Lady Elita One, I understand that you have brought an accursed Decepticon aboard this warship." Predaking said.

"Indeed." She confirmed.

"Then I will accomplish with him what I failed with Galvatron." Predaking swore turning his hand into a blaster gun.

"Predaking, this Decepticon is more than a prisoner. You do wish for Cybertron's restoration, do you not?" She asked, making Predaking to think about it. "Our captive's usefulness will come to an end. And when that time arrives, I assure you, he will be all yours."

In the Decepticon base, everyone was trying to guess why the Autobots wanted Shockwave, and how to discover his location.

"Listen, I need 24/7 satellite monitoring. Eyes on the sky and ears to the ground." Silas ordered through his com-link.

"Maybe the big O is after the techno fuel." Slipstream suggested analyzing Shockwave's work.

"The Synth-En formula?" Airachnid remembered.

"Why would the Bots need the artificial stuff if they already control most of this planet's energon reserves?" Flamewar asked.

"Greed, what else?" Breakdown added.

"If Optimus is truly rebuilding the Omega Lock, as Shockwave surmised, synthetic energon might be a necessary component." Galvatron deduced.

"If that's the case, why Blaster took Shockwave instead of me? I was the one who started researching with synthetic energon." Knock Out asked confused.

"Because Shockwave is the most intelligent Decepticon, maybe even the most intelligent Cybertron ever existed. And not forget that he assume the Synth-En research all this time while the rest of us were hunting for Predacon fossils." Starscream reminded.

"I hate to be the one to bring lightning to a thunderstorm, but there's one thing we're all ignoring. If the Bots found Shockwave here, they know the location of this base." Silas pointed.

Meanwhile, back to the Ark…

"And what did the cortical psychic patch yield?" Optimus asked while Perceptor pulled out the patch's cable from Shockwave.

"Only confirmation that the synthetic energon formula is unstable, and that the Decepticon scientist's work on it remains incomplete." Perceptor answered.

"Then it seems we must help Shockwave finish his work." Optimus declared.

Minutes later, Shockwave had his hand and cannon chained together inside one cell. Then he heard the door opening behind him.

"Are you through poking around inside my head? You didn't find what you wanted, did you? Or else you wouldn't be here." Shockwave deduced.

"What I want apparently does not yet exist." Optimus answered.

"And that would be…?" Shockwave started.

"We would very much like for you to complete your work, on the formula for synthetic energon." Elita said.

"Even if I were capable, do you think that I would hand you a limitless supply of fuel and ammunition just so you can turn around and use it against the Decepticons?" Shockwave said, before turning around.

"Oh, you misunderstand, dearest Shockwave. I intend to use your formula for the purpose of creation, not destruction." Optimus said, earning Shockwave's attention.

"We have fortuitously discovered that your Synth-En, when combined with cyber-nucleic acid, may in fact form the basis for an alternative cyber-matter." Ratchet explained.

"You are attempting to rebuild the Omega Lock." Shockwave deduced.

"We stand on the verge of a great moment in time, you and I. The restoration of our very home world." Optimus tempted.

"Collaborate with the barbarian who essentially destroyed our planet in the first place? Who sadistically killed so many good innocent people that did not make any evil, while enjoining their agony? No thank you." Shockwave answered directly.

"Then I present you with a choice: complete your research, or…" Optimus said before Blaster showed a picture of Jack, Raf and Miko.

Grimlock laughed a little. "Humans, always the weak link."

"Are these humans supposed to mean something to me?" Shockwave lied. "Even if they don't, do not you think you've underestimated them enough?"

"If not, I am certain this will." Elita said as Blaster showed a familiar image. "As you must certainly be aware, we know the location of your current base."

"Accept my offer, and I will allow your fellow Decepticons and human pets to remain unharmed. Think it over, professor." Optimus finished as he and the other Autobots left Shockwave alone.

"My liege, you aren't really going to allow the Decepticons to remain operational." Grimlock said.

"Of course not." Optimus agreed.

"Leave it to me. I will assemble some troops, and we will decimate their base once again." Elita said.

Meanwhile, inside the base, the Decepticons continued trying to track down their enemies.

"All aerial search patterns are coming up empty." Silas reported.

"No com-link chatter either." Soundwave added.

"And no ground activity. It's a little too quite out there." Astraea added.

"Since the Autobots no longer seek Predacon bones or Earth technology, there is no activity to track." Galvatron realized.

"So until Prime makes a move, we're in a holding pattern." Breakdown said.

"You know, I didn't think Dreadwing's new cockpit could allow him to transform. But I'll tell you what truly isn't good enough: giving up." Knock Out said.

"You're right." Dreadwing supported. "We have no choice but to play this old school: split into teams, for maximum coverage."

Suddenly the alarm sounded.

"We have incoming. A whole fleet's worth." Silas reported what the scanners detected.

The fleet was composed by Elita One and a bunk of heavy Aerobots heading to the base. The pilots went inside their planes to engage the Autobots.

"Concentrate your fire on hangar E." Elita instructed.

The pilots fired at the Autobots, forcing them to break formation and ascend above them.

"Air cover's holding. For the moment." Silas saw.

Then Elita descended, dodging the planes' fire and launching two missiles that ignored the planes, but went directly at the marked place, while Silas and the Decepticon watched. The missiles hit the hangar, destroying it completely.

"Optimus, we don't have to worry anymore. The Decepticon base has been reduced to ashes." Elita reported as she left the area.

Despite the building was destroyed, the Decepticons managed to escape, and they did not look affected.

"The mess hall sure is a mess." Kickback observed.

"We are fortunate that the Autobots can be fooled by a simple paint job." Starscream said as the firefighters extinguished the fire, revealing that the Autobots destroyed the wrong hangar.

Meanwhile, Optimus allowed Shockwave to walk around the warship while two guardians watched him closely.

"I'm sure you would more fully appreciate a tour of our facilities if you were comfortable." Optimus said.

One of the guardians removed Shockwave's chains.

"How do you know I won't use this to disintegrate?" Shockwave menaced aiming his shock cannon at Optimus.

"I would not mind if it were you. We took the precaution to disconnect your weapon in case you were free. Besides, I'm sure an expert like you would not like to pass up a chance to see our molecular masking field." Optimus said.

"Your clocking device." Shockwave saw as he stopped aiming his cannon and walked until he reached the same place Optimus was in the bridge. But he did not look surprised. "Shielding is shielding, high tech or low."

"Perhaps you'll be more impressed by our energon transfusion capacitor." Ratchet suggested as he showed something on the screen. "It allow us to maximize our consumption at thousand-fold."

"Actual Autobot engineering never fails to impress. Of course, there was a time when we had the most revolutionary tech, and you tried to steal it, or simply try to copy it from us." Shockwave said.

"Shockwave, we may be mortal enemies, but Autobots and Decepticons do share one common goal. You would like to see the ruins of our devastated home world restored to their former brilliance, as would I." Optimus said, showing an image of a living Cybertron.

"Optimus, you would just try to conquer Cybertron all over again, and slave anyone who refuses to pledge allegiance to you." Shockwave reminded.

"Of course I would! And your comrades would attempt to stop me, as ever. But at least we would once again possess a planet worth fighting over." Optimus said.

"Perhaps, but you wouldn't stop there, would you? Earth would be next, if not first. What assurance do I have that you would leave humankind be? And that you wouldn't instantly terminate me once you get what you need?" Shockwave demanded.

"None whatsoever. After all, we both know that as an Autobot, any assurances I might offer would be worthless. But that does not change that fact that you may be Cybertron's only hope of ever seeing life again." Optimus said.

At the same time, in the Decepticon base, at last the team had a good new.

"So the bug clipped the business end of Sundor's transponder." Astraea discovered.

"You're a great shot for an Insecticon." Airachnid congratulated.

"We thought you might be the best one to help Soundwave to analyze this, in Shockwave's absence." Starscream said to Raf.

"Laserbeak and I will force it to turn on so you can check anything it ignites." Soundwave said as he and Laserbeak hooked their tentacles to Sundor's piece.

"It's trying to communicate with the warship." Raf reported.

"How do you know?" Miko asked.

"It's telling us." Raf simply said.

"Uh Raf, that's cybertronian code." Jack recognized.

"Wait, first Raf understands Stinger, now he reads cybertronian? Are we sure he's not some kind of alien?" Miko asked.

"I've been learning for a while. And between stuff, when Shockwave had time to teach me." Raf said a little sad.

"Hey Raf, we'll bring him back." Soundwave reassured as he put his fingers on Raf's shoulder and Laserbeak approached him and allowed him to pat its head.

"If is the last thing we do." Knock Out added.

"If it's talking to its mother, can we triangulate the signal?" Silas asked.

"To a shielded warship?" Dreadwing reminded.

"If the transponder were still attached to Sundor we could followed it." Flamewar realized.

"Maybe we should give it wings." Slipstream suggested.

"We can use spare parts from the machine shop." Raf added.

"Then let's do it. For Shockwave." Starscream authorized.

In the Ark, Shockwave was still following Optimus.

"While your forces have put a dent in our resources, Perceptor has been invaluable in updating our laboratory. Should you choice to accept the task, you shall have unrestricted access to our equipment." Optimus said as they entered the lab.

Shockwave remained unconvinced, until he spotted something that caught his attention. "Is that a quantum cryo-inducer? Only two were ever made."

"Three, actually. You are holding the original prototype." Ratchet corrected.

At the same time, the team was working on their only plan to reach Shockwave, starting in making the drone.

"The frequency modulator keeps shorting out!" Raf saw in his laptop.

"We better try with more advanced pieces to power up its reach." Soundwave suggested.

"Easy, you two. Let's try uncrossing some wires first." Starscream calmed down.

"Now there's something you don't see every day." Breakdown said surprised.

"Yeah, I have never seen Starscream with a scientist aptitude before." Raf added.

"Starscream wasn't always only the Seeker's leader. Before we joined the Decepticons he and Thundercracker leaded the scientific division of the Seekers." Slipstream told.

"Whoa. There's always something new to learn." Kickback said.

Then they heard a crashing noise, next they saw Raf yelling at Miko.

"Miko, be careful!" Raf shouted.

"I was just trying to tighten up that thingomojig." Miko defended.

"Uf, please." Raf simply said.

"Agent Silas, everything alright?" Jack asked, standing next to him.

"Just thinking, and a little preoccupied. About the close calls we humans have had with the Bots lately: smacked down by Blaster, stuck in Smokescreen's trunk with your mom…"

"Moving on…" Jack said.

"The uncomfortable reality is, the Cons might not always be here. And even if they are, they can't be everywhere at once, as we've learned. This armor is the only thing that stood between Miko and that Predacon. The reason she came back without a scratch. Cyber-tech like that could be just what we need to give our agents on the front line a fighting chance. Agents like, maybe you someday." Silas said.

"What?" Jack asked surprised.

"You'll be of age soon, and you're Prime material, son. Your mom thought you might be a good fit, swing as you've been wishy-washy about future plans." Silas explained.

"Wait. You've been talking to my mom? About me?" Jack asked.

Suddenly they saw the drone taking flight, and heading at them. So Silas covered Jack and put him and himself to cover.

"Watch your toys!" He yelled.

The drone flew around the room, supported a little by Laserbeak, and landed next to Raf and Miko.

"Sorry agent Silas." Raf apologized.

"Next time warn us before you turn it on." Silas advised.

"I'm still fine-tuning Chip's remote." Raf explained.

"Chip? You put a name to that drone?" Flamewar asked.

"So the plan is that we're gonna let this second Laserbeak fly back to the Autobot's central…" Knock Out started.

"And lead us right to Shockwave." Starscream ended.

Back to the Ark…

"Even if you manage to reconstruct the Omega Lock, it is more than illogical for me to think that it could work. After all it is a mystic force. The notion of scientifically replicating its capability is pure folly. Madness, even." Shockwave expressed.

"But how will we ever know for certain, professor, if we do not try?" Optimus said before pressing a button, which opened the lower deck. "And how can we not try, when the means finally lie within our reach?"

Right below them was a huge, perfect copy of the Omega Lock. The Aerobots and engineers were still working on finish the structure.

"By the Allspark, you've actually done it." Shockwave saw impressed.

"Autobot engineering." Elita One said arriving returning to robot form. "It will not take long for this Omega Lock's drives to be fully operational. All that is still needed to restore our home is the cyber-matter to launch through it."

"Which requires a stabilized formula for the production of synthetic energon." Shockwave followed.

"We have every confidence in you, professor." Optimus said.

Shockwave thought about the whole situation he had in front of him for a while, until he made his choice.

"I'll do it. But know this Optimus, once I finish my job rest assured that I will do my best to escape from your confinement, and stop your plans for good. But then you already knew that, didn't you?" Shockwave said.

Optimus smirked. "I know you will try."


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter Sixty Three- Synthesis**

In middle of the night, at the military base, the Decepticon team was ready to allow their new toy to guide them to the Autobot warship.

"You sure we don't need to install a GPS on our scout here?" Silas asked looking at the drone, ready for launch.

"Not possible. The actual structure is designed to achieve immediate full speed, leaving no place for any other devices." Soundwave explained.

"Besides, we don't need a tracker." Slipstream started.

"We have a lot of flyers." Raf ended.

"About that, Rafael, I decided to go alone. Many flyers could draw too much attention in place of only one." Galvatron clarified.

"But won't the Bots see you coming, big guy?" Miko asked.

"Not until it's too late." Breakdown reassured.

"Soundwave, in case we manage to locate the Ark's position, we will require all possible resources to fight. It is therefore that I have a special task for you, where you know." Galvatron explained.

"Affirmative." Soundwave nodded before he transformed and left.

"We'll be prepared for immediate mobilization upon your commands, sir." Starscream said.

"Good luck, Galvatron." Kickback said.

"Be safe." Airachnid added.

"( **We know you will achieve your quest.** )" Stinger added.

"And in case you find some Bots, make sure to remind them what we Decepticons do when they got one of us." Flamewar said.

"Whatever the outcome, know that Shockwave would be most proud of your contribution." Galvatron said, cheering up Raf.

"Come on, kid. Let's light this thing." Astraea encouraged.

Raf used his remote control to make Chip blast off, Galvatron changed to his vehicle form and followed the drone. Moments later, Soundwave descended to the bottom of the ocean, just where there was some kind of giant cybertronian ship. He entered inside the ship and started to examine the ship's inside. Meanwhile, aboard the Ark, Shockwave was working inside the Autobots' lab.

"Fetch me the quantum cybermeasure." Shockwave asked while he manipulated some kind of yellow energon.

"Hmp, don't think that despite you are working in a project for us you can give me orders, Decepticon." Smokescreen expressed mad.

"Smokescreen! Optimus has given us orders to recreate the synthetic energon formula, and in order to success we all have to cooperate." Ratchet reminded.

"I know, I know Ratchet. But following orders from a Decepticon…"

"Our masters want this project complete, and if that means that you have to follow orders from a Decepticon scientist you have to do it!" Ratchet continued.

"Ratchet's right. Attend to the needs of our esteemed guest." Perceptor added.

"As you command." Smokescreen said as he went for what Shockwave asked.

While Shockwave was working, Perceptor put on the table he was working a piece of the cyber-matter created by the explosion.

"So we know this cyber-matter to be produced by an atypical molecular displacement reaction?" Shockwave asked.

"Extensive empirical evidence indicates the fundamental instability within the Synth-En formulation to be the cause." Perceptor explained.

"Double-blind analysis?" Ratchet asked.

"Naturally. The results only confirmed my original hypothesis. Once the erroneous variable has been corrected for, the stabilized synthetic material will bind properly with cyber-nucleic acid." Perceptor continued.

"And produce a stable form of cyber-matter. Very logical." Shockwave finished.

"Indeed. Quite an act of providence." Ratchet added.

"Whoa. And to think that had we not let you destroy the beasts, none of this would be possible." Smokescreen said.

"Excuse me?" Shockwave asked as he take what he asked to Smokescreen.

Smokescreen got nervous for what he said and how Perceptor and Ratchet looked him. "Sorry, what I meant to say is that those specimens you requested earlier aren't going to prepare themselves, so I going for them." And he left.

Ratchet sighed. "These rookies, always forgetting something."

"There is much to do and little time, professor. Shall we get back to work?" Perceptor asked putting a hand on Shockwave's shoulder.

"Certainly." Shockwave answered, but still thinking that the Autobots were hiding something.

Meanwhile, deep in the ocean, Soundwave was doing some repairs, fixing all the broken pieces and putting together the cables. At the same time, Galvatron continued following the drone in the air.

"Galvatron, haven't heard from you in a while. Everything all right up there?"

"So far, agent Silas." He answered.

"So what happens when the Bots ID Sundor's signal?" Jack asked.

"We're counting on Galvatron making visual contact with the warship before its radar can detect Chip." Raf explained.

"There is no need to worry about lord Galvatron. He managed to survive far worse, and engage foes more huge than Prime." Starscream reassured.

"It's not Galvatron I'm worried about." Kickback said.

Meanwhile, inside the Ark's lab…

"Smokescreen, does it really take so long to inform our leader about our progress?!" Ratchet asked mad in the moment he returned.

"It was not so easy, doc. First, I have to pass Grimlock's orders by his request to different squadrons scattered around the entire warship, next I had to wait until Optimus and Elita ended having another of their private moments, and when I finally though everything was done while I was coming back, then Bee, Cliff and Arcee called me from the other side of the hall, telling that they'll tell something private of me to make me look like a fool to Optimus just like it happened to them before. It's not my fault that I'm not having a good day!" Smokescreen expressed a little annoyed.

"Don't come now with excuses, just continue doing what we request." Ratchet simply answered.

"Smokescreen, I require a fresh CNA sample." Perceptor demanded.

"And don't forget to bring me an original synthetic energon sample too." Ratchet requested with a signal, without stop looking at the screen.

Smokescreen simply groaned for himself as he was going to the energon store.

"This is not how I envisioned my life. I was hoping to serve our liege as a good warrior, with great missions and adventures into the battlefield. But here I am, serving as a messenger for a Dinobot, scientists and soldiers; checking this ship's mechanisms, and besides all that I also have to listen to the unpleasant and continuous opinions of my comrades-in-arms." He said while he opened the store and grabbed one of the energon canisters. "It seems like no matter whatever I do nobody appreciates my efforts. I'm just everyone's gofer."

The energon store door got stuck with one canister, which gave Shockwave an idea. So he went to grab it, but Smokescreen saw him.

"Anything else, sir?" He asked mad.

"The Isoprobe. I… can't find it." Shockwave said.

"What a surprise. Now experts leave their lab like a mess. And guess who has to clean it later? Bingo." Smokey said sarcastically.

Shockwave made sure that no one was looking at him, so he grabbed the canister and pulled with all his strength. At the end he managed to pull it out before Smokescreen returned to him.

"Anything else?" Smokescreen asked giving him what he needed.

"Thank you. And don't push yourself too hard." Shockwave answered.

Smokescreen was about to leave, but in the last moment he looked back to Shockwave happy. "You're welcome. It was about time for someone to recognize my contribution."

Even besides Shockwave thanked Smokescreen really, it was necessary to not making anyone suspect about him. Meanwhile, in the bridge, Optimus was seeing the progress.

"We stand at the very precipice of a new age." Optimus proclaimed.

"We have gone through so many things to reach to this point." Elita added.

Suddenly Blaster detected something, and showed it on his screen.

"What do you mean our scanners have detected Sundor's signal?" Elita asked.

"But that's not possible. He's right here in Blaster's torso." Grimlock pointed confused.

"Dear, you did destroy the Decepticon base, did you not?"

"Of course, Optimus. I saw how it became scrap metal."

"Then this must be a Decepticon trick." Grimlock suggested.

"Designed to uncover our position and rescue a certain prisoner." Optimus followed.

"But there still something out of place. How would they possibly manage to execute a task like this without a base?" Grimlock questioned. "Maybe you left behind a little part operational?"

"I just don't know!" Elita shouted, not believing that she failed. "But I have intention to figure this out."

Galvatron continued following the drone, which was heading towards a storm, making Galvatron's task harder. Meanwhile, Shockwave continue working, and its seemed like he finally discovered how to complete the formula.

"Ah, the final piece of the puzzle. Thank you, Autobot engineering." Shockwave said, but then he paused for a moment before looking down. "I can't believe I actually said that."

"Perceptor, assembly of the Omega Lock is entering the final stage. Your guidance is required." Optimus called from the bridge's com-link.

"Understood, my liege." Perceptor said heading to the exit.

After hearing that, Ratchet suspected something.

"I have to go for something. I'll go back in a moment, until then, I want you to supervise our guest in my absence, Smokescreen." Ratchet said.

"Wow, thanks for the big vote of confidence." Smokey said.

Noticing that he was alone with Smokescreen, Shockwave knew that was the perfect moment to execute his plan.

"I can't allow Prime to possess the stabilized formula." He said to himself before he erased all the data. "Not now or ever."

Next he grabbed one of the lab's instruments and threw it into an active mechanism, causing an explosion.

"For the love of Primus. What is happening?!" Smokescreen demanded.

"The formula instability. It must have triggered a chain reaction." Shockwave invented while the room was getting full of smoke.

"Guards, help me extinguish this mess before it consumes the whole project…or our leader's going to be mad with us!" Smokescreen called by his com-link.

The two guardians which were guarding the lab's entrance received the message and got inside, but the smoke covered the entire room that allowed Shockwave to transform and escape. Galvatron continued searching for the drone inside the storm. After a while, he spotted something, but it wasn't the drone, it was Elita One in vehicle form, and she already saw him too.

"You're persistent, Galvatron. But everyone has an end, and yours has finally come." She declared launching a missile.

Galvatron managed to dodge the missile and fired at Elita, but she dodged too.

"If you are talking about air combat, I can still teaching you some lessons, but not today. Blast him into oblivion!" Elita declared.

Then an entire squadron of heavy Aerobots flew toward Galvatron above him. They continued chasing Galvatron firing at him, but he changed to robot form and fired some shots with his fusion cannon, taking down one. Meanwhile, Elita was watching the fight from a safe distance.

"The frequency isn't emanating from Galvatron, and it's still on the move. Finish him! If I cannot find the source of the signal before it finds the warship, Galvatron could destroy all we have worked for." She ordered before she turned around.

Meanwhile, inside the Ark was another problem.

"Lord Optimus Prime. Uh, there has been a situation. More like an accident." Smokescreen called, a little nervous.

"Oh, what kind of mess did he get into?" Arcee asked interested.

"I'm sure whatever it is, is his time to be humiliated." Bulkhead said.

"What exactly is this accident, Smokescreen?" Optimus demanded.

"The prisoner has escaped!" He answered.

That made Optimus roar in anger. Galvatron was still trying to evade the Aerobots. He flew above them and once he put some distance charged at them firing his fusion cannon, destroying half of the squadron. Elita One continued searching for the signal's source.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." She said searching.

Finally Galvatron managed to dispose of the last Aerobots with a combination of his bowler and fusion cannon, next he went looking for the drone. As for Shockwave, he was trying his best to escape from the Autobot warship, being chased by Autobot troops that fired at him, but he managed to hold them back with his vehicle form's cannon. But he didn't need for that, because surprisingly his vehicle form was fast enough to lose them.

"Not bad for a scientist." He said proud.

But when he turned right he did not see Ratchet, hidden in the other side of the hall.

"I knew you were up to something." Ratchet said, pulling out two cannons on both sides of his vehicle form.

Ratchet followed Shockwave, firing to slow him down. But Shockwave managed to stop him with a single hit from his shock cannon. But he was too busy making sure that Ratchet was not following him anymore that he did not see Grimlock in front of him when he turned left. Grimlock stopped him by stomping his foot over him, trying to crush him.

"If you terminate me, your leader will never get his hands on the formula." Shockwave excused.

Grimlock retired his foot, allowing Shockwave to return back to robot form.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so certain, professor. My experts are working diligently to disentangle your false trail as we speak." Grimlock revealed.

Finally Elita found the drone with the signal she was tracking.

"There you are. And down you'll go." She said launching a missile that destroyed the drone.

Galvatron arrived too late, finding the resulting explosion. "No."

He saw Elita not far from him, so he changed to vehicle form and started chasing her, also firing her. After so many tries, he managed to successfully hit her on one wing.

"Arg! I need a ground bridge, now!" She ordered through the com-link.

Once it appeared, she speeded up toward it before closing, right before Galvatron could reach it. Back to the Ark…

"Nice try. I'll just put this back where it belongs." Ratchet said taking the sample Shockwave stole.

"Ask Smokescreen to do it for you, old friend. Right now, I need you to examine Elita, she received a hard hit from Galvatron." Optimus asked worried.

"Right away, my liege." Ratchet nodded as he went with two Autobot soldiers which were holding Elita, who was affected by the hit.

"Spectrum analysis confirms that the synthetic energon is stable." Perceptor said checking an energon sample from the machine that Shockwave tried to sabotage. "The formula is now complete."

"And your time table for production?" Optimus asked.

"With the aid of hyper-acceleration technology: not long." Perceptor answered.

"Oh, a pity you won't live long enough to witness the fruit of your labor. But as much as we appreciate your contributions, professor, we made a promise to someone that we intend to keep." Optimus said.

Later, the Autobots threw Shockwave to the open area of the upper hangar, and someone was waiting for him.

"Do you feel defenseless, Decepticon?" Predaking asked while Shockwave looked at him. "Good. Now you know what my fellow Predacons endured. Right before you massacre them!" He shouted grabbing his head.

Predaking threw Shockwave aside, and before he could get up he saw Predaking changing to his dragon form, and approaching him roaring. Shockwave received a few scratches before being pushed down by Predaking. At the same time…

"Galvatron to base, come in." He called by com-link.

"My liege, have you determine the warship's location?"

"No Starscream, the transponder has been destroyed. We are no closer to finding Shockwave than when we began."

Meanwhile, Perceptor was in the lower deck's main control. And by only pressing one button, it started to flow synthetic energon to huge canisters.

"Lord Optimus Prime, synthesis of the cyber-matter required to cyberform Earth has commenced." He reported by com-link.

"Splendid, Perceptor. Move the Omega Lock into position. I want to be ready." Optimus instructed from the bridge.

"At last. Good riddance to a wretched species." Bumblebee said.

"Although, I will say they manufacture some fine vehicle forms." Wheeljack confessed, leaving the rest surprised.

Meanwhile, Shockwave was thrown against the wall, and just when he got up Predaking grabbed him with the mouth and threw him again. Next he jumped and trapped him with his claw.

"Just get it over with. It's not like I could ever live with myself, knowing the role I played in humankind's extinction." Shockwave said with some energon leaked on his eye, while Predaking looked him threatening. "But if you want to avenge your cohorts, don't stop with me. Keep avenging all the way to Optimus Prime!"

By hearing that, Predaking stopped and retuned to robot form.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Your high and mighty leader wanted your Predacons exterminated, and simply allowed us to do his dirty work for him." Shockwave answered once he got up.

"Nothing but a false claim to save your own spark." Predaking said grabbing Shockwave and raising him.

"You consider yourself an intelligent being, don't you?" Shockwave asked, making Predaking stop and listen. "Then rise above your base instincts and analyze the situation." Predaking released Shockwave. "We followed the trail of that day with the desperate hope that it would lead to an energon mine. We have no idea we would find Perceptor's laboratory." Shockwave told as he cleaned the energon of his eye.

"A coincidence barely seems plausible." Predaking supposed.

"Because it wasn't a coincidence. Energon was clearly planted to lure us there by Prime." Shockwave clarified.

"Why would my liege wish to destroy us?" Predaking asked, still unconvinced.

"Having just been on the receiving end of your might, there is only one logical theory: Optimus fears you, and any like you." Shockwave deduced.

That answer let Predaking shocked.

"Answer me just one more question! Does Grimlock know about this?!" Predaking demanded.

"Giving the fact that you have stablished some kind of friendship with him, and that two reptilian beast are stronger together than one alone, I highly doubt that the Dinobot is aware of this conspiracy. So he knows about this as much as you before. Besides, we heard a rumor that it was Optimus and Elita themselves who destroyed the rest of the Dinobots." Shockwave said.

Although he was relieved that Grimlock wasn't involved, Predaking was full of rage. What come next were his screams of fury as an explosion sounded inside the Ark, and an Autobot tank's body came flying through it. While was carrying the body of another one, Predaking hit with an uppercut one Autobot soldier against the ceiling. While two heavy soldiers fired at him, he threw the body against one of them before blasting the other one with his blaster gun.

"Lord Optimus Prime, Predaking is on a rampage and moving rapidly toward the…" Optimus received from a soldier's com-link before hearing some blaster fire.

"Do you think he has discovered the truth?" Elita asked.

Then Optimus realized something. "Where is Grimlock?! We have to locate him before he makes contact with the Predacon and have two titans against us!"

Speaking of him, the Dinobot was walking through the ship's corridors when suddenly he heard shots near to him, so he went to investigate. But once he arrived he was shocked seeing Predaking smashing two leapers against a sniper.

"Predaking, what are you doing?!" He asked in disbelief.

"Making justice. Where is Optimus?" He demanded.

"For what?" Grimlock asked.

"For making him pay for what he did to my brethren."

"Have you gone mad? What are you talking about?"

"He was the one who allow the Decepticons to find my fellow Predacons and did nothing to protect them, because he planned that." Predaking continued walking, but Grimlock locked the hall by pressing one button. "Step aside, Grimlock. I don't want to fight you."

"Me neither, but if you don't stop immediately I will be forced to stop you."

"Grimlock, listen to me. We both have been harmed by Prime's fault. I already know why there are no other Dinobots besides you, because he did the same that he did with my Predacons, he fears our true power. You don't have to follow him, to be his slave."

Grimlock looked down. "I know the things that happened when I followed that path, and I don't want that to happen again. If I have to do this by the way I know the least I can do for you is to give you a decent fight." He said putting himself in fight position.

"So be it. At last, a worthy opponent for both of us. This fight will be legendary." Predaking nodded.

"I agreed. Prepare yourself." Grimlock warned.

Both opponents charged against each other and grabbed their rivals. They tried to push the other back, but they were equaled in strength. Until Grimlock head-butted Predaking and tackled him. The force was too strong that they passed through the wall and ended in the upper hangar. The two robots punched each other for a few times until Grimlock pulled out his shield and hit Predaking's head with it. While Predaking recovered, Grimlock pulled out his sword, so Predaking pulled out his own sword, which looked like his dragon form's tail. They clashed their swords in a long duel, until Predaking took advantage and with an uppercut he took down Grimlock, making him to drop his sword and shield. But Grimlock didn't try to recover his weapons, he simply charged against Predaking and before reaching him he changed to his dinosaur form. He grabbed Predaking with his jaws and threw him against a wall. Predaking changed to his dragon form and charged at Grimlock, as he did the same. Both giant reptiles smashed each other and tried to push the other back. But Grimlock made Predaking slide a little and allowed him to grab the dragon's neck with his mouth. Grimlock tried to use his teeth to crush Predaking's neck, but the Predacon used his tail to hit the Dinobot's head and set him free. Both creatures roared at each other and launched their fire beams, causing a beam collision that ended in a huge explosion. Using the smoke cloud as an advantage, Predaking took flight and flew above Grimlock, who only could see until Predaking descended against him, hitting him hard. He tried a couple of times more, until Grimlock dodged the third time and hit Predaking with his tail, distracting him and making him to clash against the wall. While his opponent was still on the floor, Grimlock approached Predaking with his jaws ready for the final strike, and put one of his feet over Predaking. But in the last moment, Predaking changed to robot form and grabbed Grimlock's mouth before he could bit him. Next he pushed the dinosaur back until he had the chance and punched him in the legs, taking him down. Grimlock tried to recover himself, but at the same time Predaking grabbed him from the tail and threw him against the wall. The impact forced Grimlock to return to robot form, and seeing that he was a little shocked, Predaking spotted Grimlock's shield, so he grabbed it and charged against the Dinobot, who had no time to react. At the end, Predaking used the shield to hit Grimlock's face, until he left him unconscious. While he recovered his sword, Predaking knew he had the chance to finish him, but he simply housed his weapon and marched back inside the ship.

"I'm not going to terminate you. I'm not like Prime, and I don't want to put you inside this, because you are my only friend." He said looking him one more time before continuing his way.

Meanwhile, in other side of the ship, Shockwave took advantage of Predaking's rage and reached to a terminal.

"Decepticon base, do you read? This is Shockwave. Can anyone hear me?"

"Loud and clear, old friend." Galvatron answered happy receiving Shockwave's call.

Everyone inside the base heard him too, so they cheered happy.

"Listen to me, Optimus Prime has managed to rebuild the Omega Lock onboard his warship. I've deactivated the Autobot shielding system. You should be able to get a fix on my coordinates." Shockwave explained as he heard shots near, so he readied his cannon. "Galvatron, you must hurry. Optimus is preparing to cyberform Earth as we speak."

Once he finished his report, Shockwave ran to the opposed direction to the shots.

"Shockwave?" Galvatron asked, before deducing he done informing. "Decepticons, lock on to those coordinates and prepare to storm the warship."

"Yes, my liege." Starscream answered before looking at the other Decepticons. "You heard our leader! We're going in and we're going in heavy! So gear up!"

Flamewar checked her flamethrowers; Airachnid readied her laser handgun; Stinger did the same with his portable shield and neutron assault rifle; Breakdown prepared his energon rocket cannon while Knock Out grabbed his improved electric staff and the force field generator; Kickback checked his phase shifter and also grabbed some kind of cybertronian bow; Astraea checked her grenades and her lighting whip; Starscream and Slipstream readied their missiles while Dreadwing grabbed his heavy cannon.

"They can't leave without saying goodbye." Miko said worried.

"There is no time for that, and no need. They'll be back." Silas reassured.

"Initiating ground bridge." Raf said pressing the buttons that opened the portal.

"Members of our team, Decepticon and human, it has been my honor to lead you. On this day the fate of two worlds hang in the balance, and the battle to come may very well be our last. But for Earth, for Cybertron, for our comrade Shockwave, we must take the Autobot warship." Galvatron proclaimed as the Decepticons walked through the portal.

Soundwave heard everything too, and by the time he managed to fix most of the things inside the ship, so he inserted an energon cube inside some kind of core and ran to what looked as the ship's bridge. Immediately the ship came back to life, so Soundwave inserted his tentacles in one of the terminals and the ship started rising from the bottom of the ocean. Meanwhile, aboard the Ark…

"We have been unable to locate Grimlock. It's seems he is lost in combat." Wheeljack reported.

"And what that means?" Smokescreen asked confused.

"That our precious Dinobot is not with the Predacon, meaning that he has not been turned against us." Elita deduced.

"And probably engaging him in battle." Optimus added. "However, we must take precautions for any possible outcomes. For now, we must eliminate our main obstacle."

"But Optimus, are you sure confronting the beast-Bot directly is the best option?" Bee asked.

"We shall see how his majesty fares against the most powerful weapon in our vault: the Dark Star Saber." Optimus announced.

Once they reached to a crossroad of paths, they saw landing the body of a leaper in front of them. The cause: Predaking, who was finishing with two engineers.

"What?! How he did manage to escape from Grimlock? He has been unable to match him?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.

"Do not get Grimlock involved in this! He has been deceived as much as I was. He's the only one who not deserves any harm." Predaking said throwing the corpses at the Wreckers and Ratchet. "Prime!"

"If you excuse me, I have something to grab right now." Smokescreen said leaving.

"Coward." Bumblebee said.

"Is it true that you ordered the annihilation of my army?!" Predaking demanded.

"Indeed. And my only mistake was not seeing the extermination through." Optimus answered.

"Then this is for my brethren, and the Dinobots. I will achieve the revenge that Grimlock deserves. For him!"

Optimus changed his hand for an axe while Predaking prepared his claws and charged against Prime, who waited for him ready. Predaking attempted to strike, but Optimus dodged and hit him in the torso double time. But Predaking grabbed him and pushed him against the wall, and before Optimus could react he received a hard punch in his chest, before being sent to the other wall.

"I will tear you apart!" Predaking shouted grabbing one of the corpses.

He stroke Optimus with the corpse until it was shattered in pieces and Optimus was pushed to the other side of the hall. Once he recovered he grabbed Predaking's hands and tried to push him back, roaring in the process. But Predaking, roaring too, was too strong for him. But without noticing, Elita pulled out her big gun and fired at Predaking, hitting his back. Predaking felt the impact, but had no time for react because Elita took the chance and climbed on top of him and started punching him continuingly in the face. In the moment he pulled her off, Optimus punched his head and kicked him inside the room: the escape pods room.

"That's the spirit! But we were the best fighter couple of Cybertron not only due to our great incomparable coordination…but also our cunning!" Optimus told as Elita pressed a button that opened one of the locks, and Predaking was too close for it, so the air sucked outside was dragging him out. "You should have headed my advice and faced me as a beast."

Optimus turned his back at Predaking and activated his jet-pack engines at full power, launching a powerful blast directly at Predaking. The impact sent him flying outside, until he was no seen again. With that finished, Elita pressed the button that closed the lock.

"Bravo, my liege. It isn't every day one witnesses the extinction of a species all over again." Bumblebee congratulated.

"Anyone asked for an ultimate weapon?" Smokescreen asked carrying the Dark Star Saber. "Where's the dragon? Aw, I missed the fight."

Ratchet sighed. "Good timing, Smokescreen."

Suddenly, they heard an called.

"Hum, maybe not." Ratchet apologized.

"Report." Optimus demanded.

"Lord Optimus Prime, the ship is under attack. By the Decepticons." One soldier reported.

"What?!" Bee asked in disbelief.

"But the warship's cloaked. How's that possible?" Ratchet asked.

"The scientist lives." Elita realized.

"Mobilize what remains of our forces. The Omega Lock must be defended by all cost!" Optimus instructed as he grabbed the Dark Star Saber and the Autobots pulled out their weapons and the alarm sounded. "If Galvatron wishes to wage a battle for the fate of both Earth and Cybertron, then I shall oblige him. This will be our last stand." Optimus proclaimed as the Dark Star Saber started to glow.


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter Sixty Four- The Last Stand**

There was a huge battle aboard the Ark, which was on Earth's orbit. Many Aerobots squadrons flew around the Ark's outside and fired at the Decepticons as they were attempting to sneak inside the warship from the upper hangar. Right now they were concentrating in reaching the hangar's door, taking down all the Autobots who tried to stop them.

"The Omega Lock's control room is located on the lower deck." Shockwave reported by com-link.

"Come on." Flamewar encouraged as the team advanced.

Shockwave advanced through the warship's corridors and changed to robot form.

"I am making my way there now."

"Copy, Shockwave. We will rendezvous at the objective. Airachnid, lead Stealth Team to secure the Omega Lock. Starscream, you and the Seekers storm the bridge. Prevent the Autobots from targeting the device if Stealth Team is delayed." Galvatron instructed as he flew toward the Ark, evading the laser shots.

"Galvatron, if we fail to secure the lock before it's ready to deploy, do we destroy it?" Airachnid questioned.

"I do not intend to squander a second chance to restore Cybertron." Galvatron answered.

The Decepticons managed to reach the entrance as Dreadwing eliminated the closest enemies with his sword.

"Seekers, let's go!" Starscream ordered.

"Now this is like the old times!" Slipstream said cheered as the Seekers took the right path.

"Breakdown, Astraea and I will continue to the front!" Knock Out said firing more lighting from his staff.

"Flamewar, Stinger, Kickback, with me!" Airachnid instructed as she lead to the left path.

Kickback was about to follow them when he saw Optimus emerging from the hangar, with the Dark Star Saber hooked to his back.

"Kickback, come on!" Flamewar called.

Kickback ended following his team. Optimus jumped over the Ark's deck and spotted Galvatron coming to the ship evading the shots. Optimus activated his battle mask, jumped out of the ship and with a roar he unleashed a wave of energy from the Dark Star Saber. The wave hit Galvatron's wing, making him to fly without control, fortunately he managed to grab himself to one of the Ark's engines as he changed to robot form. At the same time, Optimus hooked the saber back to his back and activated his jet-pack. Galvatron spotted the Omega Lock, so he started climbing up for it. Inside, Stealth Team continued for their objective in vehicle form, but suddenly Kickback stopped and changed back to robot form.

"Go on without me." He said.

The rest of the team stopped and changed to robot form too.

"That isn't the mission." Airachnid reminded.

Kickback turned on the phase shifter. "There's something I need to do." And next he disappeared passing through the wall.

Stinger was about to say something.

"No, let him go." Flamewar stopped him. "He's been guiding by his instinct. If is that is because he perceives something we don't. Just like with Galvatron."

"Okay. Let's keep going." Airachnid said.

Shockwave managed to reach the lower deck's door, guarded by two Autobot tanks. He simply charged his shock cannon and the only thing that was heard later were laser shots. When the door opened revealed that Shockwave disposed of the tanks quite easily. Once inside the room he spotted Perceptor working on the control panel.

"Shut it down, Perceptor. I cannot allow you to harm Earth." Shockwave advised.

"The planet will not be harmed. Only its indigenous lifeforms." Perceptor answered.

"That's what I mean. Over my sparkless husk."

"Hum, always so determined. Quite logical, not, old rival?"

"It is not only because of logic, it is also about right and wrong." Shockwave defended before he charged at the Autobot.

Shockwave jumped at him, but Perceptor simply pushed him down. Before he could strike, Shockwave pushed him aside with his cannon. But then Ratchet appeared from behind and kicked him back.

"If you want to stop our leader's intention to create the perfect future for us, you will have to engage us two." Ratchet challenged changing his hands for swords.

"That vision of future is not ethic." Shockwave answered as he recovered and charged again.

In other side of the warship, Breakdown, Astraea and Knock Out continued their way eliminating all the Autobots they encountered. By when they were about to turn at the next hall they saw something that caught them off guard.

"A bomb!" Knock Out shouted.

The Decepticons were forced to get some cover, thing that they achieved fast enough to dodge the explosion's effects. Next they heard laughter coming from the smoke, and saw the Wreckers coming out.

"Have you guys come for tourism?" Wheeljack mocked.

"You could have remembered to say hello if you were giving a ride around here." Bulkhead followed.

"Believe me Bulkhead, I was planning to do it sooner or later." Breakdown answered.

"Knock Out, continue without us. Assist Stealth Team, we will take care of these guys." Astraea said.

"What? No way, we are together in this." Knock Out objected.

"Fear nothing, we have trained to match even Wreckers. But the others might require your medical experience." Astraea reassured.

"Go!" Breakdown repeated.

Knock Out transformed and drove away leaving his two comrades alone with the Wreckers.

"Haha, I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time." Bulkhead said crushing his fists.

"You can get the big one, partner. I will dance with the girl." Wheeljack said.

"Don't get cocky, Jackie. Because I will not go on easy with you." Astraea answered pulling out her chainsaw swords while Breakdown readied his hammers.

Both Wreckers readied their weapons, both wrecking balls and swords, and charged at their adversaries, the same as the Decepticons. Meanwhile, Stealth Team continued their way to the Omega Lock when suddenly they saw shots coming from behind them. It was Arcee, shooting with two cannons at the sides of her vehicle form.

"Continue for the target. I will take care of her." Airachnid instructed.

Stinger and Flamewar continued driving while Airachnid returned to robot form and blocked Arcee's guns with web, forcing her to change form too.

"Did you think I would pass up an opportunity like this? We have a pending issue." Arcee said pulling out her blades.

"Arcee, you're still tied to the pass. This match will not change what happened to Tailgate." Airachnid said.

"No, but whatever that could happen in that moment, this match would have to happen no matter what. So I will savior every second of this fight, despite if I end your spark or the Earth that you know disappears forever. Of course, if that happens, your precious Jack will perish too, and that will be the perfect revenge: keeping you occupied so you can't do anything to save your friend." Arcee smirked.

That managed to get Airachnid mad. "If that happens, you will not live to enjoy it!"

Airachnid activated her spider legs and charged against Arcee, as she did the same. Meanwhile, Flamewar and Stinger were almost at the lower deck.

"Shockwave, we're approaching your position." Flamewar communicated.

But before they could reach the door someone came at them firing. It was Bumblebee, firing a twin laser cannon in the front of his vehicle form. Flamewar used her flamethrowers and created a firewall between them and the Autobot, but Bumblebee managed to jumped above them and transform before landing in front of them.

"You will not get inside that room during my guard." Bee warned.

"( **Then we will have to go through by force.** )" Stinger said.

"Come on, Stinger. He's only one, we can beat him." Flamewar reassured.

"Bee, what's going on? Why is the ship in emergency mode?" Grimlock asked appearing from one of the corridors next to Bumblebee a little dizzy, alongside with four Autobot guardians.

"You don't know? We're under attack! The Cons managed to board the Ark!"

"What?!" Grimlock asked in disbelief, especially when he saw the two Decepticons.

"Scrap." Flamewar cursed.

"Attack!" Grimlock ordered to the guardians, which opened fire.

Meanwhile, Smokescreen was tidying up the lab.

"Okay, everything secured. Now I can go and see where I can be of help." He said relieved, but before he left the lab he stopped and started to reason. "But wait, why should I help someone who doesn't appreciate my support? And after all the things I have done for this faction, they still do not respect me. Warriors, scientists, officials…" It was a long pause. "You know what? Scrap them. Let them defend themselves. If everything I have worked has brought me to this, this cause is not worthy! From now on, I will only worry about myself." Smokescreen grabbed some energon cubes and some kind of suitcase and made his way out of the lab. But when he was out he looked to the end of the corridor. "I know this is not the kind of life I expected when I joined the Elite Guard, and that I can't change my past actions, but maybe there is still something worthy I can do."

Inside the end of the corridor was the cell block, with only two prisoners: the last Star Seekers, Brimstone and Axer.

"Hey, did you hear that? It sounded like shots." Axer heard.

"Hum, you're right. It seems the Cons managed to board the Ark and now they are battling against the Autobots." Brimstone answered.

"Yeah, and we are still locked here. What do you think it will happen to us when all that mess is over?"

"I don't know, Axer. The only thing we can expect now is a fast death."

In that moment Smokescreen entered the room.

"Well, I guess I spoke too soon." Brimstone said.

"What now, Autobot? Have you intention to snuff off our sparks once and for all?" Axer asked.

"Actually, what I am going to do is something worse." Smokescreen said walking at them, so they closed their eyes waiting for the end. "But not for you, but for me."

Immediately their chains disappeared, showing that Smokescreen deactivated the system that kept them prisoners.

"I don't know what you intentions are, but if I were you, I would go to the escape pods." Smokey advised before he left the room, leaving the Star Seekers alone.

"Well, I guess this must be our lucky day." Axer said as they left the room. "Now what? I don't know what to do. What would the captain do in this situation?"

"How should I know it? Besides, I think that doesn't matter now. The last I heard from Thundertron is that he perished, probably at hands of the Doctor of Doom." Brimstone realized.

"In that case, it seems the Star Seekers are no more. Everything we knew it's now gone." Axer said with his head down.

"True. But I just can't realize how wrong we were about this war. No matters what we do or offer, the Autobots are not going to change. The Decepticons know that, and that's the reason they still battle them. When we were with the Decepticons, Megatron said that no matter the situation, how dark the times could be our side will continue to fight their oppression until they would be defeated." Brimstone said.

"A shame that their combined efforts led to Cybertron's actual situation." Axer pointed.

"Actually, I heard that the war which led to that was started by the Autobots. So it seems that at the end everything is their fault."

"What are you talking about, Brimstone?"

"I'm saying that seeing how they manage to keep fighting despite all their darkest hours, they never give up, and never left any of them behind. Perhaps we did wrong joining the Star Seekers. If we were still with the Decepticons, we could be right here now fighting with them, having now the chance to finally end this conflict and make justice for Cybertron once and for all. And that's exactly what we wanted to do when he joined the Star Seekers."

"I guess we took the wrong way." Axer nodded. "But wait. Are you suggesting we go and help the Decepticons like that, after all the bad things we have done to them? Do you expect such a quick redemption for us? They're not fools; they will not accept that so easily."

"At least we have to try. If there is a chance that they see in which side we truly are, we have to." Brimstone insisted.

At the same time, Kickback reached to the relics' room. He examined the pods until he found the one he was looking for.

"I was hoping you'd still be here." He said.

Meanwhile, Blaster was coordinating the defenses from the warship's bridge. Then he heard shots from behind him. It was the Seekers.

"Secure the bridge!" Starscream ordered.

They managed to eliminate all the guards, leaving Blaster alone. But when they charged at him he opened a ground bridge right below them, making them fall through the portal, which transported them to another room, full of Autobot troops.

"Well well, it seems you guys are not as good as we heard. Nice to see you again finally, Screamer."

"Same here, Cliffjumper."

"Dreadwing to all units: we will be delayed. Blaster pulled one of his relocation tricks."

The humans heard that in the base.

"Raf, can you get me onto the warship's bridge?" Jack asked.

"Sure, now that I have a fix on it. But you won't have a chance against Blaster." Raf warned.

"I will if I have backup." Jack answered looking at Miko.

At the same time, Shockwave was pushed against one of the energon containers.

"Optimus, the Omega Lock is fueled and ready." Ratchet reported.

"Face it, Shockwave. There is no way you can defeat us both." Perceptor said charging his shoulder cannon.

"There is something you must know." Shockwave announced as he was getting up. "Before being Megatron's main scientist, I had a similar life like his and my friend Soundwave: I was another gladiator, from the pits of Kaon!"

Without need of aiming, Shockwave fired his cannon at Perceptor's, destroying it. That caused the Autobot some disorientation and harm, giving Shockwave enough time to tackle him. Ratchet opened the lower deck's door, but Galvatron was already over the Omega Lock and fired his fusion cannon. But immediately some shots distracted him before Optimus tackled him. Both rivals landed on the Omega Lock's surface, and seeing Optimus machine gun next to him, Galvatron pushed it aside.

"Ratchet, commence Omega Lock firing sequence." Optimus ordered before he changed to his vehicle form and launched three missiles at Galvatron, but he dodged.

Just after he activated the lock's charging systems, Shockwave managed to grab Ratchet and launch him against one of the containers before continuing his fight with Perceptor, who wasn't very well. Shockwave punched him three times before trapping him against one of the containers with his shock cannon, and he started to charge it.

"Not bad, for a former gladiator. But you could have done it better if you had two hands instead of one."

"Sometimes you have to learn to fight with your available resources. Besides, one way or another, you never had a chance against me Perceptor, both in fighting and science field. And you do not have to use logic to see that, you mark it by your actions." Shockwave proclaimed.

With all said Shockwave fired his cannon at full power. The resulting shot destroyed Perceptor's spark chamber. By that, the Autobot scientist fell in front of Shockwave, dead.

"And because of that you gave me no choice."

"Perceptor!" Ratchet witnessed from the other side of the room. "Perhaps you finished with one of us today, but you're too late to save Earth!"

"No!"

Ratchet fired the Omega Lock, despite it was not fully charged, and prepared to launch a beam of energy, but then another huge ship, yellow and grey, and ended in spikes, got itself in the beam's path. The beam hit the ship, and as result it started restoring it entirely, outside and inside. Soundwave, who was the one who brought he ship, saw how the Omega Lock's power restored all the damage he had no time to repair. The beam did not last long, so Ratchet reinitiated the charging procedure as Shockwave tried to shot him. Inside the Ark, Smokescreen walked through the corridors until a door at the end of one hall opened and shots came flying, forcing him to find some cover.

"Wrong way."

The shots were because of the Seekers, who managed to stand against the Autobot troops and Cliffjumper, who was sent flying against a wall by Starscream.

"I will clear the path. You two get this horned guy busy."

"Leave him to us, captain." Slipstream nodded.

"I didn't have idea that you have a girlfriend." Cliff said.

"She is my sister." Starscream defended.

"Sister? Whoa, that explains everything. I wonder if all your family looks the same as you." Cliff mocked.

"Your days of joking have come to an end, Cliffjumper. Step aside or face the consequences." Starscream warned.

"Sure? No one has the chance to face a high ranked Con like this, so I will try my best to make this unforgettable." Cliffjumper declared changing his hands for blades.

"Let's take him down, brother. For the other Seekers."

"Roger that."

Both Seekers charged against their enemy, but Cliffjumper managed to block all their attacks with his swords. After knocking out Starscream with an uppercut, Cliffjumper was grabbed by one of Slipstream's whips, but immediately he changed to vehicle mode and dragged her with him, giving her no time to electrify her whip. In middle of the drag, she managed to launch a missile in front of Cliff's way, forcing him to stop and allowing her to set free.

"You want the horns? You got them." Cliff said.

Next she launched two more missiles, but Cliffjumper pulled out two cannons, one at one side of his vehicle form, which shot at the missiles, destroying them. The smoke cloud allowed the Autobot to sneak around the Seeker and strike her from behind. Now Slipstream was at his mercy.

"You guys gave me a good fight, and I like that as stories to tell. But all things start and end, and now other of you Seekers' time has come to an end." Cliffjumper proclaimed as he readied his sword for execute Slipstream.

"It has been great to fight together again, brother. I hope the rest of our family can have the chance to revive our old days, the same way as I did." Slipstream said goodbye.

"No!" Starscream yelled.

Slipstream closed her eyes expecting the end. Cliffjumper stroke with his sword, but for one reason he couldn't reach for Slipstream's spark. He looked behind and saw one of the few cybertronians he didn't expect to find: Axer, who was holding his arm.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in disbelief.

"My duty." Axer answered before he punched him in the face, pushing him back. "If you mess with one Seeker, you mess with all of us!"

Axer stroke Cliffjumper a couple of times before he punched his head with both fists. The impact was too strong that one of Cliff's horns was spliced. Axer noticed that too, because next he grabbed the piece and stabbed it in the Bot's face, making him scream in pain.

"Now that's the kind of tactics Seekers should practice, no commander?" Axer pointed.

Starscream took the chance and changed to his jet form and flew towards Cliffjumper, tackling him and pushing him against the wall. Starscream transformed again as Cliffjumper fired his cannons at him, taking him down. Next he charged at him with both swords ready and jumped at him. But before he could strike he sensed a huge pain on his torso: it was Starscream, who stabbed his claws on his spark chamber before he could land above him.

"You will not do more damage than you have already caused. Understood?!" Starscream said approaching his head to his.

Cliff didn't respond. The hole Starscream made was too huge that he was leaking energon very fast. After two seconds he felt to his knees, perished.

"I guess we must thank you for aiding us." Slipstream said to a very specific robot.

"Axer? But, why…?" Starscream began.

"Yeah, I know. I do not believe it either." Axer interrupted. "I know there's a lot of things to discuss, and many things that perhaps you cannot forgive, but there is only one thing I have clear: this is my team, it has always been, and there is still a war to end."

"In that case, soldier, welcome back to the fleet." Starscream said putting a hand on his soldier.

"If you guys have finished with your issues, we still have a mission to complete." Dreadwing said.

"Oh scrap. It's true, we have to storm the bridge, and Blaster bridged us far from it." Slipstream realized.

"Fear nothing. Brimstone is taking care of it." Axer reassured.

Blaster continued monitoring everything on the bridge, with a few Aerobots guarding it. Then a ground bridge portal appeared in middle of the bridge. The Aerobots aimed their weapons at it, ready to fire against any enemy it could appear. But the only one who came through was Jack, walking calmed at the Autobots while they aimed at him confused.

"Surprise." Jack said pointing at the portal.

Suddenly Miko came from the ground bridge, inside the Apex Armor already, and disposed of three of the Aerobots.

"Pick on someone your own size." She said.

The last Aerobot tried to shot her, but someone else grabbed him before he could do something: it was Brimstone, in his Pteranodon form, holding the Autobot by his claws.

"Need a little help here?" He asked before he launched the Autobot to the bridge.

"You?!" Miko asked in disbelief.

"No time for questions. You are here to capture the bridge, right?" Brimstone asked before returning to robot form. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Miko and Brimstone charged at Blaster, but he already saw them coming and opened another ground bridge with his hand. That force Miko and Brimstone to stop and fall back, because Blaster was walking toward them with the portal, trying to suck them in.

"Raf, show time." Jack called through his phone.

"Are you sure about this, Jack? The last time we crossed the streams…" Raf started.

"Do it Raf, now." Jack ordered.

Raf followed Jack's instructions: he typed some buttons in his laptop and opened a ground bridge, right behind Blaster. Immediately the portal started to whirr uncontrollably, and Blaster was in middle of them, trying to hold his ground. Jack started to being sucked by the portals, but fortunately Brimstone grabbed him as he and Miko covered their eyes. A great flashlight lighted up the room, and after that Blaster tried to attack them. But he only passed them through, thing that confused him.

"Enjoy the shadowzone, dude." Miko mocked.

"Whoa, you managed to catch Blaster off guard." Brimstone admired.

"I know what to say: humans superior, Blaster inferior." Miko imitated.

"Hahaha, just like Soundwave would say. He will be proud of you."

"Come on. We need to figure out how to navigate this thing." Jack reminded.

Blaster could only see how they marched to the ship's controls, while he was banished from their dimensional realm. Meanwhile, Breakdown and Bulkhead were continually clashing their melee weapons, the same as Wheeljack and Astraea with their swords. Wheeljack and Astraea were constantly trying to find a weak spot, dodging and recovering when they looked cornered.

"I must admit that you're maybe the best fighter I ever faced in my life." Wheeljack said when they clashed their swords again.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She answered before head-butting him, pushing him back. "But don't think you can try one of your tricks with me. Perhaps I've been trained by the Combaticons, but it was my choice to learn a few tricks from you Wreckers."

"Ha, in that case bring it on. I am ready for whatever you're planning to do."

"Are you sure? Did you already use your only grenade, or have you added another just right now?" Astraea smirked.

Wheeljack then looked to his waist and saw surprised that he had another grenade, but it was activated, thing that caught him off guard. He tried to remove it off, but Astraea took the chance and grabbed Wheeljack by the hands, taking out his swords and holding him off until the grenade was almost out of time, and then she pushed him to the end of the hall. The next thing that followed was an explosion that consumed the Wrecker.

"Jackie!" Bulkhead yelled.

Breakdown took the chance and hit Bulkhead's back, sending him against the wall. At the same time, Astraea grabbed Wheeljack's swords and gave a nod to Breakdown. While Bulkhead was still getting up Breakdown started punching him in the face as Astraea was putting the swords pointed up right behind them.

"If you want to join with your friend, let me send you with him!" Breakdown declared as he readied his two hammers.

Breakdown charged against Bulkhead and hit him with an uppercut with both hammers. And when Bulkhead fell on the floor, he felt two sharp feelings on his chest. It was Wheeljack's swords, put by Astraea as a trap, pierced through his back. Bulkhead simply grabbed the swords before his eyes' light extinguished.

"I guess you were right, Breaky. We were good when we battled alongside our teams, but together we battle much better."

"You're right, Astraea. Now let's see if we can give Knock Out a hand, or in this case two."

They ran in the direction Knock Out left. At the same time, Airachnid continued her fight with Arcee. Both fighters blocked and evaded their attacks for a while, until Airachnid changed to vehicle form and fired some missiles at Arcee. But she transformed and dodged the missiles while she approached Airachnid until she stopped right below her. Next she returned to robot form and grabbed her rival below her before throwing her against the floor. After returning to robot form, Airachnid started launching web shots, but Arcee dodged them and kicked her in the face, leaving Airachnid disoriented. Seeing her rival invaluable to fight at the moment Arcee saw the web shots and smirked. Once she recovered Airachnid activated her spider legs and charged against her rival, but Arcee jumped above her and unleashed the webs, tangling her spider legs and making her trip over. Arcee saw this as the perfect chance to terminate her rival once and for all, so she prepared her wrist blades and put her foot above Airachnid's back, ready for the kill. But before she could strike she heard a horn sound from behind her: it was Knock Out, who speeded up to tackle Arcee, pushing her back.

"Seriously Airachnid? I though you knew how to take care by yourself." Knock Out said as he used his buzz saws to cut the webs and free Airachnid.

"I'm glad to see you too, Knock Out." Airachnid thanked.

"Need some support?" Knock Out offered.

"No. Arcee and I started this long ago, and we are going to finish it the same way."

Arcee prepared herself seeing Airachnid charging at her, but what she didn't expect was that she threw a little amount of acid, and that hit her in the face, what caused her a huge pain. Airachnid took the chance and tackled her rival against the wall; next she grabbed her hands not to push her back, but to immobilize her. That allowed her to use two of her spider legs to stab Arcee's arms, making her impossible to use them. She fell to the floor because of the pain while she saw Airachnid approaching her.

"I guess this is not totally a defeat. Finally I'm going to meet with Tailgate after all. Just only one more thing Airachnid: when you extinguish my spark, make it hurt. You know I would extend that courtesy to you."

"Keep dreaming Arcee. I'm not like you." Airachnid declared before she stabbed one of her spider legs on Arcee's spark chamber, finishing her rapidly. After that, she sighed relieved.

"You give your rival a compassionate death, I'm surprised. Galvatron would be proud of you undoubtedly."

"Thank you, Knock Out. Now let's go help our team." Airachnid declared as she and Knock Out transformed and drove directly to the objective.

Speaking of the Omega Lock, while it was charging again, Galvatron and Optimus continued their rumble. Galvatron grabbed Optimus's hands and head-butted him, pushing him back a few steps before he sent another wave of energy, but Galvatron evaded it and made Optimus drop the Dark Star Saber. Optimus saw where it landed, but he had no time to recover it because Galvatron punched his face hard enough to bring him down.

"Ratchet, prepare to fire…" Optimus was about to order when suddenly she ship started to shake. "What?!"

The Ark began to move from one side to another, as result of Brimstone's actions typing some buttons of the bridge's main terminal.

"Okay, this is harder to handle than I expected." Brimstone said as he continued typing buttons.

"Dude, where'd you learn to drive?" Miko asked.

Fortunately the ship's moves affected the Autobots which were blocking the lower deck's entrance, including Bumblebee, Grimlock and Elita One, who joined.

"Sorry for being late. We have some little set-backs." Airachnid said as she and Knock Out finally arrived.

"( **Where's Kickback?** )" Stinger asked.

"Was not he with you?" Knock Out asked.

"Special delivery. That way, right?" Kickback said finally arriving, carrying the Star Saber.

The Autobots fired at the Insecticon, so he turned on the phase shifter and passed through Grimlock and reached the Omega Lock's control room. Once there, Kickback spotted Galvatron fighting with Optimus. He turned off the phase shifter preparing to give Galvatron the Star Saber, just when Ratchet dodged Shockwave's hits and pushed him against one of the energon containers. Seeing that the other Autobots were busy with his comrades, Kickback took the chance.

"Galvatron, catch!"

"Kickback!" Shockwave called when Ratchet aimed his own cannon at the Insecticon and fired.

The shot hit Kickback, making him to drop the Star Saber. Kickback landed next to an energon container, with an injury in his arm. Flamewar and Airachnid saw the saber a few meters from them, the same as Bumblebee and Grimlock, who pushed the Autobot troops against Stinger, but Stinger managed to kick them off. Immediately all the Autobots and Decepticons started a race toward the Star Saber, including Ratchet, who decided to go from the other side leaving a weakened Shockwave behind. Flamewar managed to jump above one of the Autobot soldiers and threw it at Grimlock, stopping him while Airachnid shot webs at Bumblebee's feet, immobilizing him, that allowed Stinger to continue his way while Flamewar engaged Elita One and Airachnid jumped with her spider legs ready to strike Grimlock, Knock Out was still dealing with the last Autobot guardians. As he was approaching to the Star Saber, Stinger managed to evade Ratchet's shots. When he was almost there, Stinger slide to dodge the next Ratchet's shot, grabbed the saber and threw it above Ratchet. While Ratchet saw the saber flying above him, Stinger took the chance and hit him hard in the torso, taking him down. Then he jumped over him and grabbed the saber again, next he put it on his shoulders as he started to climb down to where Galvatron continued his fight against Optimus.

"Galvatron, you must use the saber to destroy the Omega Lock." Shockwave communicated while Galvatron punched Optimus. "It is the only way to save Earth."

"( **I'm almost there, Galvatron!** )" Stinger called as he continued descending.

"The Star Saber." Optimus saw before pushing his rival back.

With all his strength Stinger jumped as high as he could right toward at them, but Optimus immediately changed his hand for a heavy cannon and fired at him three times before Galvatron interrupted him. But it was too late: the three shots hit Stinger, right in his spark chamber. The impact made him drop the Star Saber and made him fall right to the Omega Lock, while all his comrades watched how their friend fell covered in flames as his eyes were turning off. As the Star Saber landed on the Omega Lock's structure, Stinger landed on its center, and like something immersing under the sea, its lifeless body disappeared. The Decepticons cried his death, while some of the Autobots, like Grimlock and Bumblebee, smirked. Optimus was not an exception, for what Galvatron saw.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Galvatron roared as he continued attacking his rival.

Galvatron continued striking Optimus hard until he sent him against the Omega Lock's structure with a hit from his bowler. All the hits made Optimus to lose his balance and fall to the ground, but he saw something useful nearby. Galvatron readied his fusion cannon to execute his rival as he walked toward him, but once he was close enough Optimus roared as he launched a wave of energy from the Dark Star Saber. The hit was overmuch for Galvatron to resist that sent him flying out of the structure. Once he got up, Optimus walked towards just where Galvatron was hanging from the edge with smoke coming from the injury the wave made on his torso.

"Prepare to join your scout, in the Allspark!" Optimus declared as he readied his saber to finish his rival.

"Optimus!" A voice called.

Just in the moment Optimus turned to see who called him he felt something sharp pierce through him. He let out a shuddering gasp as he saw the Star Saber sticking through his gut. The responsible of that was surprisingly Stinger, who managed to return from the Omega Lock. He stared in front of the Autobot leader while miraculously his injury healed like by some kind of magic. Logically, all the Decepticons witnessed that without words.

"You took so much, so many lives, millions of them. You will never rob anyone of anything ever again." Stinger said, with his own voice.

Optimus raised the Dark Star Saber weakly, but the sword fell from his grip and fell back to Earth. Stinger continued holding the saber until Optimus kneeled, as Galvatron and the others observed.

"You have something that is not yours." Stinger remembered.

The Decepticon scout opened Optimus's chest and took out the Matrix of Leadership. The only thing Optimus could do was simply hold the saber as his eyes started to turn off by the pain, the same as his dark energon shard.

Elita fell on her knees, shocked. "Optimus, no!"

At the end, Optimus spark extinguished and his eyes turned off. His body slipped through the saber and fell towards Earth. Galvatron witnessed how his former rival disappeared as a glowing meteorite in the planet's ocean. That was the end of the Autobot tyrant Optimus Prime. Next Stinger offered his hand to his leader and helped him up. Everyone was speechless.

"I will avenge you, master!" Grimlock shouted as he was going after the ones who ended his leader's life, but Ratchet and Bumblebee stopped him.

"Grimlock, do not be a fool!" Ratchet said.

"What are you doing?! Don't touch me!" Grimlock objected.

"Everyone listen up! Optimus Prime is down, the ship is lost, evacuate immediately!" Bumblebee ordered.

"Curse you Decepticons, I curse you all!" Grimlock shouted as he was carried away by the surviving Autobots.

"Come on Elita, we have to go." Ratchet said.

Although she didn't want to, she knew she couldn't do anything for Optimus, so she left with Ratchet and the survivors. As for the Decepticons, they reunited with Galvatron and Stinger once they climbed up to the control room.

"Stinger." Shockwave started.

"Your voice." Airachnid followed as everyone was surprised.

"My voice, what are you…? My voice." Stinger said surprised as he removed his battle mask. "Knock Out, I have my pipes back." He said hugging him.

"Yes, yes, we noticed that too." Knock Out nodded.

"But I thought it was impossible to fix, so how is this possible?" Flamewar asked.

"The cyber-matter." Stinger realized.

"It is the only logical explanation." Shockwave said.

"I would seem our field medic made good after all." Galvatron added.

"Galvatron, I think this belongs to you." Stinger said offering him the matrix.

Galvatron grabbed the Matrix of Leadership, which started to glow again in a shiny blue, and placed it inside his chest. Instantly, Galvatron felt like he recovered something lost as a great light came from his inside.

"How do you feel, my liege?" Kickback asked.

"I feel like I have gained more wisdom than never before."

"The matrix has finally returned with its true owner." Knock Out said.

"It seems you have finally achieved your ultimate purpose, Galvatronus Prime." Shockwave said bowing before his leader.

"Indeed." Galvatronus said before he opened his com-link. "Galvatronus Prime to all units, Optimus Prime is no more."

"Yes!" Silas said happy while Raf smiled.

"Hurray!" Breakdown and Astraea yelled before they hugged each other.

"Huah!" Starscream and Slipstream said cheered before they clashed their wings again.

"Seekers, a job well done securing the bridge." Galvatronus congratulated.

"It wasn't us sir, the credit belongs to the humans, and some returned allies." Dreadwing corrected as he looked at Miko, Jack, and Brimstone, with them already in the bridge.

"Wait? That means what I'm thinking?" Brimstone started.

"I think it is. We won!" Axer said cheered.

"Oh yeah." Miko cheered.

"Galvatronus superior, Optimus inferior."

"Soundwave, well done putting the Nemesis in middle of the Omega Lock."

"Thanks, Galvatronus. But I think there is someone else here who wants to meet you." Soundwave said examining one terminal.

"What he's talking about?" Kickback asked confused.

"I'm detecting a Decepticon life signal inside here. One huge." Soundwave reported.

"A huge Decepticon is aboard that ship?" Flamewar asked.

"It's good to see you again, my liege." A deep voice called from the Nemesis.

"No, the Decepticon is the ship." Shockwave corrected. "It seems the Omega Lock's effect that brought back Stinger did the same with our former warship: the biggest Decepticon ever existed.

"It's good to hear from you again, Trypticon."

"Me too, my liege. Ready for your command."

"The Omega Lock is under our control." Soundwave pointed.

"I propose that we put it to good use." Shockwave suggested.

"Agreed, old friend." Galvatron nodded. "Trypticon, hook yourself with the Autobot warship. Soundwave, come to the Ark's bridge, and set course for Cybertron."

"Hey Raf, if you can tear yourself away from your laptop for two seconds, bridge yourself up here so we can get to Cybertron already." Stinger called by com-link.

"Wait. Who's that?" Silas asked.

It took Raf a few seconds until he realized who spoke to him. "Sting?"

The Nemesis hooked with the Ark thanks for a few boarding cables that it launched. Next, both ships flew through a space bridge portal and headed to Cybertron. Meanwhile, inside the Ark, Grimlock, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Elita One were still trying to find a way to escape. They reached to the escape pods room, and there was only one pod left, so they had no choice but to enter inside it. The pod ejected itself from the Ark.

"Uh. Your elbow articulator is digging into my lateral flexor." Ratchet complained.

"Do you intend to whine for the duration of the voyage?" Grimlock answered.

"And why did you have to get inside first?" Ratchet continued.

"Even though I have very little mobility here, I can still crush you. So stop talking!" Grimlock shouted.

Elita One didn't listen their discussion, because she was still affected by the loss of her sparkmate.

"Don't worry Elita, this is not over yet." Bee secured.

The escape pod flew back to somewhere on Cybertron. Meanwhile, inside the Omega Lock's control room…

"Galvatronus, I fear despite all my intellect that I was never able to learn Perceptor's side of the cyber-matter equation. This may be all we ever have." Shockwave reported.

"And let's not forget that Cybertron is a much larger planet than Earth." Starscream pointed.

"Then we must launch the cyber-matter at Cybertron's very core." Galvatronus declared.

"Into the heart of Primus himself." Soundwave understood.

Moments later, the ships reached to a huge hole that probably reached to Cybertron's core.

"Commander, we've arrived, at the Well of all Sparks." Astraea reported.

With all the Decepticons present in the Ark's bridge, alongside the humans, and the Omega Lock in position, Shockwave activated the firing sequence. Electricity started to flow through the device and launched an energy beam, which reached and made contact with Cybertron's core. The Omega Lock continued firing until all the cyber-matter was sent to the core. After a long pause, the planet started to light up with a beautiful blue light that expanded all over the planet: Cybertron was alive again.

"Ah, what a beautiful sight." Smokescreen contemplated, before turning at the Decepticons, who looked at him in disbelief.

"What is he doing here yet?" Flamewar asked.

"Easy pals, I'm now in your side." Smokey said.

Immediately Miko knocked him out, next she dusted her armored hands proudly before crossing her arms.

"Haha, I'm starting to like these humans." Axer said proud.

The Ark landed on Cybertron, but there was someone hooked to his outside. It was Predaking, who surprisingly managed to survive Optimus betrayal. He tried to climb up the warship, but he slipped because of his injuries. Then he saw where the sunlight was coming and saw that he arrived to Cybertron, his home world. So he jumped out the ship, changed to his dragon form and flew toward the horizon. The Decepticons saw him when he passed in front of the bridge.

"What is that?" Brimstone asked.

"The Predacon." Dreadwing answered.

Time later, the Decepticons were again inside their base on Earth, in present of their human friends.

"Though our home world is once again capable of supporting life, we have much rebuilding to do. Alas, we will miss our home away from home, and the family we made here." Galvatronus said looking at the humans.

"If Bots are still out there, won't Earth be on their radar?" Raf asked worried.

"Raf, if you ever need me, need us, for any reason, we're just a space bridge away." Stinger reassured.

"Besides, we'll be in good hands with you, Jack and Miko continuing to serve this special unit. In a semi-official capacity." Silas revealed.

"Whoa. We're agents?!" Miko asked in disbelief.

"Consultants." June corrected. "Until you're of age."

"I trust that your special unit doesn't have any rules forbidding the enlisting of old Decepticon scientists?"

"Shockwave?" Flamewar asked in disbelief. "You of all…?"

"Indeed. I know where my knowledge is needed."

The Decepticons were getting ready for their departure to Cybertron. For some ones it was going to be easy, like for Astraea, who was grabbing the lob ball, but for others it was going to be really hard. For example Stinger, who stopped in front of Raf.

"Raf…" Stinger started, but he just could speak.

"I know, Sting. You don't need to say anything." Raf answered.

"I never did." Stinger said smiling.

Despite his sadness, Raf smiled him back. Breakdown was also worried for leaving Miko, who walked to him and sat on his foot.

"Miko, I guess this is…" Breakdown started, but he could continue because she started to cry, so he allowed her to grab his finger.

"Don't be sad, Miko. We're proud of the girl you have become. Besides, Earth has many of the things we like, so maybe we could try to visit once in a while." Knock Out reassured, accomplish in making her smile.

Despite Airachnid was doing her best for not being noticed, this was going to be hard for her too. When she stopped in front of Jack, she turned at him just when Flamewar was coming.

"How cute, you really are close partners." She observed.

"You're too, Flamewar." Jack said.

"Well, it has been wonderful taking care of you, Jack. Make sure to try to contact when you can." She asked bringing closer her hand.

"I will." Jack said grabbing her hand.

"So, anything to say before it's too late, Airachnid?" Flamewar encouraged.

"It's been quite a good hunt." Jack simply said.

For everyone's surprise, Airachnid grabbed Jack and gave an affectionate hug, thing that he did too.

"Keep in touch, Jack." She said breaking the hug and returning Jack back to the platform.

"Don't make us hunt you down." Flamewar added with a sad tone before the female Decepticons left.

Meanwhile, Dreadwing, Astraea, Kickback, Starscream, Slipstream, Soundwave, even Axer and Brimstone stood in front of agent Silas, who saluted them. The Decepticons saluted him too before leaving. Despite trying to stand firm, Silas was going to miss them, so June relieved him. The space bridge portal opened, so Galvatronus decided to say goodbye to Shockwave, the only one who was not going home.

"Until we meet again, old friend." Galvatronus said offering his hand.

Shockwave shook his hand. "Till all are one."

"It sound weird for me to say this, but I'm going to miss you a lot, Shockwave."

"I understand, Starscream."

"Take care, my friend." Soundwave said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You too, Soundwave. I will miss you all."

The humans witnessed how the Decepticons entered in the portal one by one, while Shockwave remained with them. Galvatronus was the last one, he gave a last look to all his human friends, nodded and headed back to the portal, back to Cybertron.


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter Sixty Five- Predacons Rising**

As the sun rose on Cybertron, the Decepticons were gathered in Kaon, their capital, in a very special ceremony in front of Megatron's statue with both Autobot and Decepticon ships above the city in ruins.

"We have endured bitter hardship and countless battles. But a long last, our home planet has been restored. We would not be standing on cybertronian soil were it not for the valiant efforts of both those assembled here and our absent comrades. Shockwave, who remains on Earth to safeguard our human friends, and Steve, who made the ultimate sacrifice." Galvatronus proclaimed, while Airachnid bow her helm. "But on this day, at the dawn of a new era, we gather to bestow a special honor. One earned by Stinger, through his bravery and devotion to the cause of peace. Long before he rid this universe of the scourge of the Autobot war monger."

Speaking about Autobots, the last place their leader, Optimus Prime, was spotted was on Earth. Now his lifeless body was lying and rusting in the deeps of the ocean. But something strange started to happen, inside him.

" **Optimus. Optimus. Optimus!** " A voice called.

Optimus woke up in middle of nowhere; trying to see who was calling him, but once he found it he couldn't believe it.

"Unicron?" He asked frightened, seeing the chaos bringer himself in front of him. "I do not understand. Why am I not one with the Allspark? Do I yet live?"

" **You do not. Yet you cannot join the Allspark because my lifeblood once flowed through your veins.** " Unicron explained.

"Dark energon." Optimus realized.

" **It binds you to my Anti-Spark.** " Unicron finished.

"Galvatron used the Matrix of Leadership to imprison you within the Earth's core. So how is it that you speak to me now?" Optimus asked.

" **The foolish Prime rendered only my material form dormant, but my energy form aroused from slumber when I sensed the awakening of an ancient rival across the cosmos.** " Unicron answered.

"Primus." Optimus recognized. "So it would seem that Galvatron succeeded in restoring Cybertron, after my demise."

" **I now wish to finish what I began eons ago, and for that my Anti-Spark requires a vessel.** " Unicron announced.

"So, I will live again?" Optimus asked with hope.

" **Only to serve me.** " Unicron specified." **Your husk will simply be an instrument of my will.** "

Suddenly, Optimus opened his eyes with purple light and while he raised his body started to change and launched a huge scream. Moments later, he emerged from the ocean in a new vehicle form (some kind of heavy cybertronian starship) and headed to the space. Meanwhile, on Cybertron…

"In the company of your fellow Decepticons, in the presence of our creator Primus, the living core of our planet, and by the authority vested in me by the Matrix of Leadership, Stinger…" Galvatronus said before he tapped Stinger's shoulders with the Star Saber as he was knighting him. "…arise, a warrior."

After Stinger stood everyone gathered around him to congratulate him.

"Let's get this party started." Astraea declared as she pressed a detonator's button.

Then a lot of fireworks came from Megatron's statue as the Decepticons started their victory celebration.

Axer shoved Stinger's shoulder. "Welcome to the club, Sting."

"Indeed. Warrior today, who knows! Prime tomorrow?" Kickback added.

"Slow down, guys. I'm not sure I'd wish a Prime's responsibility on anyone." Stinger answered.

"I am sorry to interrupt your celebration." Galvatronus started.

"Here it comes." Flamewar said.

"Primes never party." Breakdown followed.

"But I must take my leave of you." Galvatronus said.

"Galvatronus, may I ask why." Soundwave said.

"Though Cybertron is once again able to support life our planet is currently incapable of generating new lives, not until I retrieve the wellspring from which all life on Cybertron is born, and ultimately returns: the Allspark." Galvatronus explained.

"You mean it isn't here?"

"Nor has it been, Knock Out, not for millions of years. As the war for Cybertron reached a tipping point and the Autobot army appeared to be unstoppable I opted to safeguard the Allspark from Optimus by covertly sending it to a distant sector of the universe." Galvatronus told. "When it happened, I did it even with the risk of not being able to find it again, but now the Matrix of Leadership will enable me to guide us to its present location."

"What are we waiting for? Let's call Trypticon and bring it back."

"These remain dangerous times, Stinger."

"Galvatronus is right. We cannot leave Cybertron unsecured, not with those cursed Autobot fugitives unaccounted for, included the leader of all female Autobots, their only current leader." Starscream reminded.

"Not to mention our straight Predacon." Slipstream pointed.

"Starscream, you, Dreadwing and Soundwave will supervise patrols to find and capture the fugitive Autobots." Galvatronus instructed.

"As you wish, my liege." Starscream nodded.

"I would be honored." Dreadwing nodded.

"Affirmative." Soundwave answered.

"Breakdown, you will lead the reconstruction effort. Begin by building a landing field to welcome returning refugees." Galvatronus instructed before turning at other Decepticon. "Astraea, I will require your extensive experience navigating deep space."

"When do we leave?" She asked ready.

Optimus continued his way through the space.

"Superluminal space-drive, impressive." Optimus congratulated as he observed his surroundings as he continued.

" **One of many upgrades that I made to your limited corporeal form, and wholly necessary to reach Cybertron.** " Unicron said.

Optimus turned at Unicron. "So, we are to rule together, as one."

Then Unicron shot two purple energy beams from his eyes at Optimus, causing him great pain that he fell to his knees.

" **You will rule nothing! I travel to Cybertron for one reason only: to destroy Primus personally.** " Unicron clarified.

"But to destroy Primus is to destroy Cybertron." Optimus deduced.

" **Thus will begin a new age, the age of chaos.** "

Time later, the construction of the landing field was going well. The structure was not complete, but there were a lot of workers, Decepticon soldiers that managed to survive all that time in other regions of the universe and now were helping to bring back the peace. But as he was supervising their job with a data pad, Breakdown spotted something troubling.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! How are you going to attach the cladding when the framing structure is incomplete, huh?!"

The two Vehicons looked at Breakdown before they put the cladding down and started walking backwards, but two other Vehicons who carried the framework walked toward them, and clashed each other, making a mess. Breakdown groaned before he heard an engine sound coming from the distance: it was Airachnid, who came after a recon and changed to robot form.

"Labor issues?" She asked before hearing another crashing noise.

"Any news of our fugitives?" Breakdown asked.

"Just signs of recent scavenging in former Autobot installations." She reported.

"The Bot warship can't detect their life signals?" Breakdown asked.

"The Doctor of Doom must have found a way to shield or disable them. He probably learned it from Perceptor." Airachnid suggested.

Breakdown looked at the Ark. "I'll feel better when the gruesome four are locked up with the others."

Meanwhile, inside one of the Ark's rooms there was a banging sound coming from inside it. It was done by Smokescreen, who had his hands chained, the same as a bunk of Autobot soldiers, who were doing the same.

"Okay, you got my attention. What do you want?" Starscream asked through a screen.

"We are prisoners of war, we have rights!" Smokescreen started. "When are we going to have access to an oil bath?!"

"Well when are you going to tell us where we can find your pals?" Starscream asked back.

Smokescreen sighed. "I told you before. Ratchet had dozens of secret labs hidden across Cybertron, top secret."

"A shame. You don't look good; perhaps you need to race a little." Brimstone mocked.

Smokescreen looked annoyed a little. "I don't know where they are, I swear!" But then Smokescreen stopped and looked back at the screen. "But I have an idea where you might try looking."

Meanwhile, Kickback, Axer and Dreadwing were patrolling in search of the Autobot fugitives.

Axer sighed. "Someone might want to think about renaming the Sea of Rust, just saying."

"Though I was hoping more of us would be rushing back here to see it. You know, now that it's all bright and shiny." Kickback said.

"Cybertron will populate in time, soldiers. You both have to remember, refugees could be returning from light years away." Dreadwing pointed.

"I only wish that there could be more Insecticons survivors, so we could make a totally new hive." Kickback added.

Suddenly, Dreadwing's scanner detected something.

"Movement, two contacts at point 84." He reported.

The Decepticons transformed into robot form once they arrived to where the signals came.

"Approach with caution." Dreadwing instructed as everyone prepared their blasters.

The Decepticons approached slowly toward an alleyway and heard something: it was two cybertronians that immediately noticed their presence.

"My name is Dreadwing." He introduced. "Are you Autobot or Decepticon?"

One of the new cybertronians chuckled as they walked out of the shadows, revealing that their optics were yellow, and had a known emblem.

"Neither." One of them answered before they transformed, revealing what they were.

"Those are…?" Axer started.

"Predacons." Dreadwing realized as they aimed their weapons.

The two Predacons, one blue with silver and brown touches who turned into a feathered dragon, and the second who was silver and light blue that turned into a creature called Ursagryph; charged at the Decepticons while they fired at them. The feathered dragon chased Dreadwing while Kickback jumped out of the way and Axer was tackled by the Ursagryph, as it grabbed him and smashed him against the ground. Dreadwing took the chance when the Predacon charged against him and grabbed his head and shot him a few times before being pushed away by its tail. After his quick recovery, Dreadwing pulled out his heavy cannon and fired at the Predacon, which started to take flight. By the Seeker transformed and chased it shooting some lasers to slow it down. The Predacon tried to lose him launched fireballs, but the Seekers evaded them. Once he was close enough Dreadwing changed to robot form and punched the Predacon hard in its head, making it to smash against a building. Dreadwing continued punching it during the fall. At the same time, Kickback was firing with all his guns at the other Predacon, but it tackled him, next it grabbed the Insecticon and threw him against a building. Kickback fell to the floor hard and get trapped by some rubble. Then he saw the Predacon looking at him while it prepared to launch fire from its mouth. After gave a hard punch to the other Predacon, Dreadwing saw the moment when the Ursagryph Predacon launched fire at Kickback, so he tried to shot at it, but the other Predacon grabbed him and smashed him to the ground. Once it was done throwing fire, the Predacon saw what was left of the Insecticon, but there was nothing, until Kickback emerged from the wall.

"Phase beats flame every time." He said proud.

The feathered dragon threw Dreadwing against a building's part hard, smashing it into pieces as the Seeker captain remained in the ground.

"Scrap." Kickback cursed.

Seeing the Ursagryph coming at him, Kickback disappeared inside the wall again, and emerged in his bug form from below the Predacon, flying toward Dreadwing with the Predacon running after him.

"Trypticon, we need an emergency ground bridge! Stat!" Kickback asked by com-link.

Then a couple of missiles hit the Ursagryph Predacon, thanks to Axer who managed to recover and was flying above them.

"Get to the captain, bug! I'll slow down this lizard!" Axer shouted.

Dreadwing groaned before seeing the feathered dragon in front of him roaring. Kickback returned to robot form and turned on the phase shifter before launching himself towards Dreadwing. Right when the Predacon was about to slash Dreadwing with its claws, it phased through him thanks to Kickback. That made the other Predacon smash with the other, right when Dreadwing transformed and landed next to Kickback.

"Hang tight, chief. We're getting you out of here." Axer said as he and Kickback dragged a wounded Dreadwing.

While the Predacons were recovering they saw the Decepticons heading to a recent ground bridge. The creatures tried to catch them, it the portal disappeared before they could, so they ended roaring at the sky. Aboard the Nemesis, the Decepticons were waiting for someone, because immediately a space bridge portal appeared, and someone came from it, a very recognizable Decepticon.

"Thank the Allspark that you've arrived, Shockwave. I really need your help in this case." Knock Out announced.

"What's the emergency?" Shockwave asked.

Inside the medical room, Dreadwing laid on a medical berth while Knock Out and Shockwave examined him.

"He is suffering from a multitude of internal injuries. Most quite severe. I hoped that you could help me to resolve this challenge with your expertise."

"You did right by calling me, Knock Out. A recovery from this caliber would require advanced material and procedure. But the two of us together can accelerate it." Shockwave nodded as they started to work.

"So anyone care to explain what two more Predacons are doing on Cybertron?" Flamewar demanded.

"I thought Galvatronus said new life was impossible without the Allspark." Brimstone reminded.

"I'm no authority, but something tells me cloning old bones doesn't constitute new life." Stinger deduced.

"So Ratchet has decided to continue Perceptor's work to bring back those creatures from their ancient remains by playing back in his lab." Slipstream said.

"Doesn't matter where those beasts came from." Kickback interrupted as he clenched his fist. "We've gotta take them down."

"I'm with him. Those Predacons could ruin everything we're doing to secure our home for the new future we're planning for the Decepticons." Axer supported.

"Hold on you two." Starscream intervened. "If Doctor of Doom's back in business there could be more of them, a lot more."

"We need to call Galvatronus." Breakdown suggested.

"Negative. Our leader is very far in a mission to give Cybertron again a hope of prosperity."

"Soundwave's right. Do you really want to interrupt his quest to save the future of our race on Cybertron?" Airachnid asked.

Speaking of Galvatronus, he was with Astraea on Dreadwing's ship, flying toward a huge concentration of asteroids near a planet.

"Why send the Allspark to Theta Scorpiae?" Astraea asked confused. "This is considered one of the most hazardous star systems in the known space."

"Precisely to deter Optimus from searching this region for it." Galvatronus explained.

"With all the gamma bursts and planetoid collisions out here, how can you be sure it survived?" She asked.

"The Allspark itself is comprised of pure energy. In order to contain it and launch it off-world, The Fallen's siblings forged a vessel, capable of extracting it from the ether. It is this indestructible reliquary we seek." Galvatronus told.

"I'll try not to scratch the pain on this tub…but no promises." Astraea warned as she prepared the controls.

"We cannot risk being stranded if our ship is damaged. It is best that you remain here, Astraea."

"You're the boss." She shrugged.

Immediately Galvatronus came out of the ship, changed to vehicle form and headed to the asteroid field. Meanwhile on Cybertron, the other Decepticons were venturing down into a valley.

"Watch your step." Stinger warned before he picked up a piece of metal, examined it and continued walking.

"Hold. Who made him leader?" Brimstone asked.

"Sting did snuff Optimus." Knock Out pointed out.

"I'm not leading." Stinger answered while he examined a little amount of energon on the floor. "I'm scouting."

"Fair enough. But you do realize we're nowhere near where we found those Predacons…right?" Kickback reminded.

"We're not looking for those Predacons. I followed this energon trail which means he was wounded." Stinger explained as they continued walking. "And I know we aren't the ones who wounded him."

"Whoa, you mean we've been tracking…" Breakdown started.

Suddenly a huge shadow appeared over them, followed by a loud screech.

"Predaking?!" Breakdown finished shocked.

The same Predacon king rose in front of them, extending his wings. The Decepticons prepared their blasters, so Predaking started charge his fire in his throat.

"Hold fire!" Stinger ordered as he walked a few steps toward Predaking and rose the stick. "Recognize this, Predaking?"

Predaking hissed, letting the fire die as he brought his head down to get a better look.

"You served aboard Optimus's warship, surely you're familiar with this little treasure from his vault. The Immobilizer." Stinger pronounced.

The other Decepticons didn't have a clue about what Stinger was doing.

"It causes instant stasis lock, though the victim remains fully conscious. A living death." Stinger explained as Predaking hissed, but then Stinger bowed. "But we didn't come here to fight, your highness."

As result, Predaking beat his wings once and returned to robot form.

"Then why have you violated my refuge, Decepticon?" Predaking snarled.

The other Decepticons retired their weapons.

"We need answers." Stinger started. "Do you know of any other Predacons currently on Cybertron?"

"Indeed, legions of them. Behold, my subjects." Predaking declared showing them a land covered by millions of Predacon fossils. "A countless multitude, rendered extinct ages ago by the great cataclysm, unearthed by the shifting plates during our planet's restoration."

"Yeah, well me, Kickback and Dreadwing just about got scrapped by two living Predacons. Know anything about them, your highness?" Axer asked.

"Two?" Predaking said hopefully. "Where?"

"We came to ask your help in finding them." Flamewar said.

"For revenge?" Predaking snarled.

"No! Galvatronus Prime would deem it a tragedy to stain Cybertron's fresh soil with any newly spilled energon. So help us prove what Optimus was never willing to: that more than one race can peacefully coexist on our planet." Stinger pronounced.

"You assume that because I turned against Optimus Prime, I can forgive the Decepticons their role in the destruction of my brethren on Earth? Leave me be, and dare not trespass here again." Predaking snarled.

With nothing more to do, Stinger dropped the stick and left with the other Decepticons, leaving Predaking with his thoughts. Meanwhile, in other part of Cybertron, a sports car was being followed by a cybertronian T-Rex, which was carrying an object in the mouth, something like a bone. They returned to robot form, revealing to be Bumblebee and Grimlock; and entered inside something of lab, with a Predacon inside a stasis chamber.

"Hey guys, we're back." Bee announced as Elita received them and Ratchet was working with the lab's terminal.

"We trust you haven't strained yourselves enough in the lab while we were working like simple drones." Grimlock complained.

"I sounds weird from me to say this, but Grimlock has a point. Ratchet, we can't remain like this, bringing more bones faster without using them, we need more clones."

Ratchet sighed. "I know Elita, better than anyone. I'm trying the best that I can, but you must understand that this was Perceptor's specialty, not mine. Besides our lack of infrastructure and frequent need to move to evade the Decepticons, it cannot secure a great productivity."

"Well, at least these new clones are not as arrogant as the first one." Bee added holding an electric staff.

"Predaking." Grimlock named.

"Well, at least we have one good new today. Let me introduce to you our new Predacon." Ratchet said pressing some buttons.

Immediately the stasis chamber started leaking its inside liquid, and moments later it opened, liberating a brand new Predacon. It beast form was also like Predaking, but with some kind of claw on its tail and a more reptile-like head. It was blue and red with little yellow touches.

"Meet Ripclaw, our new recruit. She will be a new addition to our secret army.

"Hold on! Did you just say she?" Bee asked.

"Indeed. It's a female, I saw it when I read her CNA. She also has a poisonous bite." Ratchet explained as the new Predacon transformed into robot form.

"Hum, that could be handy." Bee said.

"Where I am? Who I am?" Ripclaw asked confused.

"You're safe, in my lab. We are your creators, and so your masters. You're only one of the few Predacons that will help us to regain our home world from our enemies." Ratchet told.

"There are more like me?" Ripclaw asked hopefully.

"Indeed. You'll recognize them as soon as you see them." Elita nodded.

"I must admit that a female Predacon could guide the other's path." Grimlock realized.

"Yeah. Speaking about the others, is taken them a while. They should be here by now."

But Bumblebee talked too soon, because immediately the other two Predacon arrived. Their arrival wasn't too quiet, because they moved a few energon boxes around them.

"Watch out you fools! I needed those!" Ratchet yelled.

"So those are my siblings?" Ripclaw asked.

"Whoa. I didn't know we had a sister." One of the Predacons said surprised.

"Meet Ripclaw, your new comrade." Bee cut off. "Now, where've you been?"

"Gutting Decepticons." The first Predacon answered as the other chuckled.

"What?" All the Autobots asked in disbelief.

"You idiots! You were ordered to avoid all contact with the enemy." Grimlock reminded, while Bee used the staff to torture the two Predacons as punishment.

"No! Please." Ripclaw prayed as she went to help his siblings. "There is no need for that."

"Turn it off, Bee. I think it's enough." Grimlock ordered, agreeing with Ripclaw.

"Yeah. Now that I don't hear you laughing more, Darksteel, I feel much better."

"We weren't followed." The other Predacon argued.

"That is not the point. Now that they know of your existence we have lost the element of surprise." Grimlock explained.

Despite of that, Darksteel laughed again. "Please your highness, the Decepticons are weak."

"They fled like cowards. We have no need to fear them." The other Predacon said while Ripclaw helped him up.

"Perhaps, Skylynx, but we must not underestimate them either. Their treacherous scout was able to fill our dearest Optimus Prime." Elita said with sadness.

"Rest in spark." Bee added. "The Decepticons are more dangerous that every one of us could expect."

"And that's why we need to harvest the CNA necessary to clone more of you, many more of you." Ratchet followed.

"So that we may build an army of beasts great enough to eradicate the Decepticons and conquer Cybertron. In Optimus Prime's memory and name." Grimlock concluded.

In middle of the night, the Decepticons were going right into the Autobot capital.

"What makes you think we'll find Ratchet's cloning lab here?" Flamewar asked.

"Yeah. If I remind correctly Decagon was Prime's army HQ." Axer reminded.

"If the intel my brother received from Smokescreen is accurate…" Slipstream started as she transformed to robot form. "…we'll find a map of Ratchet's entire lab network in the Citadel's databank."

Meanwhile, near the asteroid field, Astraea was waiting calmed, but then the ship's alarm sounded. She saw in the terminal what the ship was detecting…

"Not good."

At the same time Galvatronus continued his search flying between the asteroids. Then, to the distance in front of him he saw what he was looking for: a medium size, spiky, metallic container with a glowing blue light inside.

"Galvatronus, plasma storm incoming!" Astraea contacted him.

Galvatronus could see a weird purple energy huge clouds approaching from the distance, outside the asteroid field.

"Get out of there! That Allspark container might be indestructible, but you aren't!" She advised.

"I am too close to turn back!" He answered.

Galvatronus speeded up at the same time the storm started destroying the asteroids that were on its way. Meanwhile, inside Decagon…

"Lord Kickback, emperor of Insecticons." Kickback growled and next moved in a funny way, sat on what supposed to be Optimus's throne.

"How can you sit there? That's some bad mojo." Breakdown chided while Axer laughed.

Knock Out snickered. "Please Breakdown, don't tell me you're superstitious."

The other Decepticons were analyzing the data they supposed to be looking.

"Whaddya know. Smokey actually shot straight for once." Brimstone admitted.

"What'd you have to do? Let him race?" Airachnid teased.

"Close." Stinger answered. "Let's download the data and get out of here."

"Hey, something's heading our way." Flamewar pointed.

There was something coming at them, but they couldn't recognize what was, as it was getting closer and bigger.

"Predaking?" Airachnid asked.

"Moving too fast." Brimstone said.

"Elita One?" Breakdown asked.

"Impossible. Whatever it is that is too big." Axer analyzed.

Once it was close enough, Stinger zoomed his optics and next his optics wide in shock. When the ship arrived it transformed and landed in front of everyone, revealing to be the only one they didn't expect to return: Optimus Prime. But there was something different on him: his optics were purple instead of red, and some parts of his body looked modified, with more spikes coming from his back, and his jet-pack was no more, it turned into new engines instead of wheels. The Decepticons were in shock, while Kickback moved away from the throne.

"Minions of the Prime! Prepare to be obliterated!" The new Optimus declared before advancing to them.

"Optimus Prime?" Stinger whispered.

"You skewered the Big O with a giant saber and manage to miss his spark?!" Kickback asked in disbelief.

"How are you still alive?!" Slipstream demanded.

"And where'd you score the upgrade?!" Knock Out added.

"Optimus cannot answer you at this moment. Though I can inform you, with utmost authority, that he owes his new lease on life to me: Unicron!" The new Optimus answered, leaving the Decepticons in shock. "And I will not be so easy to deliver into oblivion."

Optimus/Unicron started to summon purple energy from both hands, and moments later covered them with two huge things, (some kind of dark energon super cannons), and he fired them. The impacts were huge, forcing the Decepticons to jump out of the way. As they got up they started to fire him back, as they looked for cover. Of course they were forced to jump out of the way of the dark energon super cannons shots and hid behind the throne. Stinger managed to jump above Optimus/Unicron's shoulders and fired at his chest, affecting him a little. That was noticed too inside of him.

" **Bothersome pest!** " Unicron complained.

"That pest is the very one who robbed me of my spark. And now I possess the power to return the favor." Optimus said cheered.

" **You possess nothing! It is I who possess all that you were and ever will be.** " Unicron corrected.

But made Optimus realize about something he didn't expected. As for his body, it continued firing huge dark energon shots at the Decepticons, who managed to hide behind the throne. Despite of that, Optimus/Unicron continued firing at it.

"We need to retreat!" Airachnid suggested.

"The only way out is down!" Axer reminded.

"We can't call for a ground bridge until we put some space between Unicron and us." Breakdown said.

"Behold my infinite might!" Optimus/Unicron proclaimed as he turned one of his super cannons into some kind of spear, and threw it to the throne, piercing through it.

But the spear not only did that, it also started to beep, like a bomb.

"Let's rise." Stinger ordered, knowing what was coming next.

The Decepticons jumped above the throne and turned to vehicle form, passing below and above Optimus/Unicron. As they jumped out of the room, the Seekers fired their missiles to open the way. Optimus/Unicron roared before he transformed and flew after them. Meanwhile, Galvatronus was trying to reach for the Allspark's container, getting more inside the asteroid field.

"Come on, chief. We're out of time." Astraea murmured.

Galvatronus speeded up, transformed to robot form and moved his hand, trying to reach the container as the asteroids in front of him exploded because of the plasma storm. At the same time on Decagon, the Decepticons continued driving down a hall until they passed a door, but Flamewar was forced to braked and return back to her robot form.

"Whoa! Stop!" She shouted.

Immediately they saw what forced them to stop.

"A smelting pit?!" Knock Out asked in disbelief.

"Cybertron's been dormant for eons, but that's still burning?" Flamewar followed.

"Soundwave, we need a ground bridge!" Stinger contacted by com-link.

Then a shot impacted next to them, sending everyone flying, while Optimus/Unicron chuckled sinisterly. The majority was sent directly to the smelting pit, but Breakdown managed to grab Airachnid's hand, and she hooked the other Decepticons with her webs; Stinger was the only one who went to the other side. Meanwhile, back with Astraea…

"Galvatronus, if we don't get out of here right now…" She started as she began to turn the ship around, but no one responded. "Galvatronus!"

But for her relief, she spotted something coming right toward her. It was Galvatronus, with the container in hand.

"That's why he's Prime. A true one." She said proud before continuing moving the ship.

While Galvatronus got inside the ship an asteroid hit it from behind.

"Cutting a little close, don't you think?"

"Astraea, set a course for Cybertron."

"Hang on to your hubcaps!" She warned as she pressed the speed button.

The ship speeded up and it left the area as the remaining asteroids exploded.

"That's the future of life on Cybertron, huh? I kinda figured it'd be bigger." She confessed.

Back with the other Decepticons…

"Hold tight!" Breakdown yelled as he was trying to get the others up.

Stinger was going to help him, but then he saw Optimus/Unicron changing to robot form, landing and summoning more dark energy from his hands, but instead of cannons he created two large scythes. He used them to try to strike Stinger, but he dodged them and fired rapidly his guns. They continued like that until Optimus/Unicron stabbed one of the scythes in the ground, causing a huge crack that reached to where Breakdown was. The ground broke, making everyone to fall towards the smelting pit.

"No!" Stinger cried.

Stinger went to check his friends, but instead of falling directly to the pit, a ground bridge opened in their way and everyone passed through, so Stinger sighed in relief.

"Servant of Prime, you will now join your brethren!" Optimus/Unicron menaced.

"You got that right!" Stinger answered, before he fell backwards off the ledge.

Optimus/Unicron saw how Stinger felt into the ground bridge before it closed, making him roar in anger.

"I am weak!" Optimus/Unicron said.

Inside of him…

"But our merciless attack drove the Decepticons into submission. They fled for their very sparks." Optimus said proud.

" **A victory over unworthy opponents, especially one that did not result in their demise is far from an achievement. Clearly our improved state is not enough to accomplish the deep for which I have come, for that I shall require a much greater instrument of destruction.** " Unicron said.

Moments later after the Decepticon team retuned back to the Nemesis…

"How is this happening? I mean we've put out a call inviting refugees back to Cybertron, and Unicron is the first in line?!" Flamewar asked, still in disbelief.

"Not to mention those Predacons. What have we come home to?" Axer added.

"What are we supposed to call him, huh? Opticron, Unicronus Prime?" Kickback suggested.

"Really? That's your biggest issue right now?" Airachnid asked surprised.

"Right, right…So what's the game plan?" Kickback asked, trying to correct his mistake.

"I would prefer not to do it, but everyone will agree that we had no other choice. We need to report our leader about this." Starscream announced.

Stinger walked over to one terminal and pulled up the com-link system.

"Warning our leader is one good point, because he's a Prime. But in case we couldn't we need to came up with possible options for how to strike back Unicron." Knock Out suggested.

"While Unicron may now inhabit a mortal form he is still a god, and thus cannot be defeated by customary means." Shockwave reminded.

"Galvatronus, Astraea, this is Stinger. We have an urgent situation."

The calling reached to their ship.

"Stinger, this is Galvatronus Prime, proceed."

"Galvatronus, can you hear me?! Come in, please! Astraea, do you read?!" Stinger repeated, signaling that he may be not received the message.

"That hit we took did some damage. Receiving's operational, but we can't transmit." Astraea reasoned.

"Nothing." Stinger said.

"You have your voice back, now is not the time to go radio silent." Soundwave said to him before he started using the com-system. "Galvatronus, if you can hear us we have something urgent to report: Unicron has found his way back to Cybertron. Repeat, the Chaos's Bringer is here, on our soil, in possession of Optimus's body."

Galvatronus heard everything. "Astraea, ensure that the light speed drive is still fully operational."

"So what now?" Breakdown started. "I mean, besides hoping that Galvatronus got the message?"

"We figure out why Unicron's here." Starscream answered.

"And what he wants." Slipstream followed.

Galvatronus and Astraea were trying to deduce that too.

"The big U could have taken Earth behind our backs. Why come back to Cybertron?"

Galvatronus already knew. "There would be only one reason, Astraea."

"To destroy the spark of his archenemy: Primus." Shockwave realized.

"But that's the core of our planet!" Brimstone protested.

"It isn't fair! How many more times do we have to save a world?! Have to fight for the survival of our home?!" Flamewar cried.

"Regrettably the struggle between creation and destruction is an eternal one." Shockwave started. "And the battle lines which separate the two run through the very spark of Cybertron."

"Good and evil. Order and chaos. One victorious, one vanquished. Each forming the core of their own separate worlds: Cybertron and Earth." Starscream numbered.

"And now, the darkness has followed us, all the way home." Soundwave ended.

In other part of Cybertron, Predaking flew above the place where the Decepticons faced the two new Predacons. After a while searching from the air, Predaking descended and changed to robot form before landing. He examined some claw marks on the ground.

"Mm, tracks? The Decepticon spoke the truth." Predaking said surprised while he observed his surroundings. "Other Predacons do exist, thought it seems they took flight here. Locating my new brethren will be a futile endeavor, unless I allow them to locate me."

Predaking changed back to dragon form and launched a huge fire beam at the sky, lighting up the area. Meanwhile, in the Nemesis's medical lab…

"Knock Out, what's Dreadwing's status?" Shockwave asked.

"Well, that must be our only good new. His vitals are improving. He will be on his struts in good time." Knock Out said seeing his situation on the terminal.

"Exactly how long is good time?" A voice asked. It was Stinger entering the room. "Because with Galvatronus missing in action, we could really use all secondary leaders' council, including Dreadwing's"

"Stinger, we have each been witness to those among us who have risen above their station time and again, special teams, scouts, even field medics. The Chaos Bringer is at our doorstep. And now more than ever before we cannot afford to wait for salvation." Shockwave proclaimed.

"We'll launch an attack on Decagon, provided that Unicron is still there." Stinger suggested.

"And in case he's gone, that could reveal our moves and allow him to make his first." Starscream objected, entering the room alongside Soundwave. "Fortunately we know exactly what to do."

"First we'll attempt to locate him, in the event that he is not." Soundwave said.

"How?" Knock Out asked.

"We still control the Autobot warship, do we?" Starscream reminded.

"I have it in my spot. I've not left it without surveillance." Trypticon announced.

Meanwhile, Predaking waited in the same place for the chance that the other Predacons saw his signal. Suddenly he spotted something coming toward him from the sky.

"The beacon. It worked." He said hopefully.

But that was no other one than Optimus/Unicron.

"Predaking. Alive?" Optimus asked surprised.

" **You know this primitive life form?** " Unicron asked.

"Yes. A warrior once under my command, though I thought he had perished in battle." Optimus told, and then an idea came to his mind. "How fortunate that I was wrong. For Predaking is a loyal and powerful combatant, who could very well be the greater instrument of destruction which you seek." He said while he smirked, but Unicron didn't notice it.

Once it arrived, Optimus/Unicron transformed and landed in front of Predaking.

"Prime?" He said shocked.

"Warrior, I call upon you to serve your master." Optimus/Unicron called.

"In the name of the mighty legions of Predacons who preceded me, I shall never again yield to your charge." Predaking declared. "But I will heed your previous advice, and face my true enemy, as a beast!"

Predaking change to dragon form and fired a huge flame at Optimus/Unicron, making it scream in pain.

" **You dare to deceive me and have both of us destroyed!** " Unicron shouted, discovering Optimus's trick.

"Perhaps not destroyed. Just damaged enough that our shared form will no longer be of use to you and forced you to abandon what remains! For regaining my free will, even over a mangled and inefficient frame, is preferable to enduring awakening life as your slave!" Optimus revealed.

That made Unicron really mad. " **For your insolence, I will only make you endure greater suffering!** "

Unicron fired two energy beams from his eyes, causing Optimus great pain. Meanwhile, Predaking charged at Optimus/Unicron and grabbed him with his mouth. The Chaos Bringer tried to set free punching him, but Predaking simply blasted him out of his mouth like a cannon. Predaking charged again, but Optimus/Unicron already recovered and summoned one dark energon super cannon and fired it. Predaking felt the hit really hard that sent him backward a few steps, but that doesn't stop him to continue his attack. He jumped at his opponent, but the super cannon fired again, and this time the impact was too strong that sent Predaking against a wall. While Predaking was lying on the floor, Optimus/Unicron summoned in his other hand some kind of giant hammer, made by dark energon. Predaking recovered fast and charged again, but he was stopped by one hit of Optimus/Unicron's hammer. He continued striking Predaking with both weapons, until he hit him with the final blow, and after that Predaking didn't get back again. But he was not dead, only beaten.

"Now, let us learn more of these mighty legions of which you spoke." Optimus/Unicron started as he opened his hand and a weird image appeared on it.

" **By peering directly into your mind.** "

Once he put the hand on Predaking's head, he saw a lot of images of Predacons in their time of prosperity. Even he saw Predaking's refuge, the land covered by fossils. So Unicron used a mind probe.

"Ah. I know now what I require to tear this world asunder." Optimus/Unicron smirked.

" **And where I might find them.** "

Speaking of the place Unicron was referring, there was other that was heading there. It was Ratchet, driving right where Elita, Bumblebee and Grimlock were.

"Ratchet, how was your journey?" Elita asked.

Ratchet transformed back to robot form, but he didn't look happy "Long. Explain why you have summoned me to the middle of nowhere." He demanded.

"Because we have located our army." Bumblebee pointed to the land filled with fossils, with the three Predacons checking it.

"The clones sniffed out quite the motherlode, wouldn't you say?" Grimlock said.

At the same time, aboard the Ark…

"We have thought about utilizing the Ark's operating systems to search for Optimus's life signal." Shockwave said as everyone entered the Ark's bridge.

"Shockwave, that remodel that kicked our tail pipes, he might have looked and sounded like the old big O but it wasn't him." Kickback reminded.

"Affirmative. But in the case that even if a fraction of Optimus's spark still flickers within his body, the ship's scanners may pick it up." Soundwave explained.

"And that's what we are going to try. Let's hope that we could get something." Starscream said while Soundwave started working with the Ark's scanners.

Back to the Predacon graveyard, the Autobots and Predacons were starting harvesting fossils. Ratchet was analyzing which fossils were the ones who had more chances to hold CNA, or if they belonged to different Predacons; Bee was carrying a huge bone, but it looked like it was not very heavy; Elita was taking a look of the entire area, and Grimlock simply used his sword to splice the bones so they would be more easier to carry. The Predacons were also trying to pick up the bones, and that was the reason that Darksteel hit Skylynx on his head with a bone. Skylynx looked back to his partner, who laughed a little.

"So, you find me amusing." Skylynx said annoyed, right before he grabbed the bone Darksteel had and hit him with it, on the head.

"Ow, that hurts!" Darksteel said before they started a fight for the bone.

"Come on, guys. Stop fighting that was simply an accident. You don't need to get mad by that, it could happen to me too. And I don't like to start a fight for an unimportant matter." Ripclaw calmed down, separating the other Predacons.

"Hm, if that happened, I will support you." Skylynx said.

"So than I. I will undoubtedly fight in your side." Darksteel added.

That made Ripclaw blush a little. "Thank you guys. Is good to have other fellow Predacons around."

"Why are you standing there without doing nothing?!" Elita demanded.

"Oh, it's nothing, mistress. Just solving a little rage issue, nothing serious." Ripclaw clarified.

"You were playing with that bone?" Elita noticed. "Are you aware that it could become your comrade someday? So don't break it! And now stop fooling around and return to the task at hand."

"I do find it curious that I am not the only one currently seeking the remains of mighty legions." A voice said coming from the cliff, and for the Autobots' surprise it was the one they considered lost forever.

"It…it cannot be." Elita said shocked.

"Impossible. Unexpected." Ratchet added.

"Optimus Prime." Grimlock started. "But, but how? You were…"

"Oh what does it matter, guys? This is a huge good new. Our leader is back!" Bee yelled happy, cheering his Autobot companions.

"And looking far more imposing than ever." Elita said admiring Optimus's new form while he advanced at them. "Dear, we have great things to report to you. We have been working tirelessly in your absence, building an army powerful enough to conquer Cybertron."

"I do not wish to conquer this world. I wish to eradicate it." He said, once he was in front of Elita.

That confused her. "I'm sorry, Dear. I can't say that I'm following you. Did you just say eradicate?"

"Silence fool!" He shouted at the same time he hit Elita very hard, pushing her right into the graveyard leaving everyone shocked.

"Optimus would never hurt his sparkmate. What's wrong with him?" Bumblebee asked in disbelief.

Then Ratchet realized what was going on, so he put a hand in front of Bee. "That's not Optimus."

"Exactly. Your master is under my control. I am the destroyer of worlds, the bringer of chaos and the lord of the undead." He declared as dark energy flowed through his hands.

"Unicron." Ratchet said.

"I say we show the lord of the undead what's like to be unliving." Skylynx suggested.

"Rip him to shreds!" Darksteel agreed.

"Come on, brothers. Let's show this being why we should be feared!" Ripclaw exclaimed.

"Predacons, follow my lead. Attack!" Grimlock ordered.

Grimlock and the Predacons changed to their beast forms and charged against Optimus/Unicron. Grimlock attacked first hitting him with the tail, that allowed Ripclaw to grab Optimus/Unicron's hands and tried to hit him with her poisonous bite. But Optimus/Unicron managed to evade her strikes before pushing her aside, but Ripclaw recovered immediately and she, Skylynx, Darksteel and Grimlock fired their fire beams at him all at once. While a small fire whirl surrounded where Optimus/Unicron was supposed to stay the Autobots simply watched as Grimlock and the Predacons circle around. Suddenly Optimus/Unicron appeared in middle of the fire with his dark energon super cannons ready. Darksteel looked surprised, from which Optimus/Unicron took advantage to shot him, two shots were enough to take him down. Next he fired at Ripclaw, who jumped above him, and next he fired to Skylynx, who tried to dodge the shots, but at the end two direct shots were enough to take him down. Grimlock hit his back with his tail before tackling him. Next he pushed him against the ground with his foot and tried to bite him, but Optimus/Unicron grabbed his mouth and held him off and started punching his head, until he managed to hit him hard. Next he grabbed the Dinobot's feet and lifted him up above him, and threw him against the ground. That left Grimlock stunned, out of the combat the same as the Predacons. Because the Autobots did not try to fight him, Optimus/Unicron passed through them and walked toward the cliff. Once he was there, he summoned a storm of purple lightning and made it flow to the ground, sending waves of energy through the place. That was detected on the Ark.

"Optimus's life signal has been detected!" Soundwave announced.

"So somewhere inside that new…body armor. He's still alive?" Airachnid asked surprised.

"He's perished and returned before." Shockwave reminded.

"A phenomenon no doubt aided by the blood of Unicron which has coursed through his veins." Starscream finished.

"The coordinates indicate he's left Decagon." Axer pointed.

"Triangulating his exact location." Soundwave said, typing on the consol.

Immediately it showed where he was.

"We were there. Earlier today." Brimstone recognized.

"Predaking's refuge?" Slipstream added.

"Unicron's retracting our steps?" Breakdown asked.

"Whoa, wait. What in Alpha Trion's beard is that?" Knock Out noticed as something weird appeared on the screen.

Just as the scanners detected, something strange was happening in the graveyard. Something big, and evil.

"My legion, arise and purge this world with your dragon fire!" Optimus/Unicron summoned as he launched more lightning from his hands.

Ripclaw was helping Darksteel back to his feet with Skylynx joining them as they observed, as well the Autobots did. The ground started to shake as it divided in pieces, from which hundreds of Predacon skeletons started to emerge, all showing signals of dark energon infusion.

"Terrobots, created from Predacons?" Grimlock asked terrified.

"This stands beyond all science." Ratchet said in disbelief.

"Every Bot for himself!" Bee yelled frightened as he changed to vehicle form and drove away.

"I agreed with you this time!" Grimlock nodded as he transformed and followed him.

"Don't stay right there, Ratchet. Run!" Elita advised as she left too.

But Ratchet didn't move. He was paralyzed, unable to believe what was happening in front of his eyes. But when the undead Predacons started to get too close, he changed to vehicle form and started to shot at them with his cannons. He managed to eliminate a few, but then one grabbed him from the front and with the help of others they tip him over before agglomerate around him and covering him at the end. Inside the Ark…

"Given that we are dealing with Unicron himself, the energy mass can be only one thing: dark energon. But for what purpose?" Starscream asked.

"We all saw it. The valley was filled with ancient Predacon bones." Brimstone reminded.

"Unicron's raising an undead army." Airachnid deduced.

"One currently travelling across the Hydrax Plateau towards the Well of all Sparks." Soundwave observed.

"The most direct route to Cybertron's core. And Primus." Shockwave finished.

Just as they detected, Optimus/Unicron was advancing alongside his new undead Predacon army right toward Cybertron's core entrance.

He was even riding on one of the monsters to witness his great moment. "The past shall consume the future. The dead shall consume the living. And chaos shall reign supreme!"

Back to the Ark…

"Unicron clearly seeks to access our planet's core from the same point of entry that we used to restore it." Starscream said.

"No doubt with every intention of undoing our efforts." Slipstream added.

"So what do we do?" Axer asked.

"We put ourselves between Unicron's army and the well." Stinger suggested.

Everyone looked at Stinger, who still had eyes of determination.

Starscream smiled. "I agreed Stinger, that's our best chance of action. Of course, if we are going to engage him we must use all the resources we had at hand. Our strongest assets are the Autobot warship and whatever relics may it store in its vault."

"Last time I looked just the polarity gauntlet, the force field generator and the Immobilizer." Kickback said.

"Hopefully the genuine article this time." Flamewar said looking at him.

"I'll round up the secret weapons." The Insecticon said leaving.

"Think you can pilot this ship buddy?" Knock Out asked.

"Bot engineering. User friendly, right?" Breakdown answered.

"Shockwave, Soundwave, you two have given your all to save this world one already." Stinger told them.

"Trypticon's weapons systems are not totally updated. He's not ready yet for combat." Soundwave informed.

"Then take him with you and Dreadwing. If we had no success, then you will be Cybertron's last hope." Starscream said.

"Understood." Shockwave nodded.

Soundwave and Shockwave saw how the other Decepticons departed with the Ark while they observed inside the Nemesis, with Dreadwing still on a medical berth next to them.

"Where are you taking us? We have a right to know!" Smokescreen demanded.

Then the room's door opened, but not by the Decepticons, surprisingly thanks to the remaining Autobots.

"Greetings, fellow Autobots." Elita saluted.

"Elita, Grimlock, Bee, thanks the stars! We can finally escape this dreaded ship." Smokescreen said relieved.

"No pal, we must in fact take the ship by whatever means necessary." Bee corrected.

Meanwhile in the Ark's bridge, the Decepticons were checking all the details for the incoming battle.

"Primary cannons, null rays, ion blasters, heavy missile launchers, nucleon shock cannons." Knock Out counted.

"That's everything we need to stand a fighting chance against Unicron's army." Starscream nodded before he went to check the others.

"Sting." Airachnid started. "In case I never get another chance to say this, you've really proved your metal."

"I'd like to think my actions always spoke louder than my words, Airachnid. But it didn't hurt to watch and learn from the best."

"Would be nice if Galvatronus showed up about now." She said.

"I was referring to a powerful little eight-legger I know." Stinger clarified, making her smile.

"How beautiful. A shame that's not going to see a future." A recognizable voice said behind them.

"Decepticons, surrender this warship!" Grimlock demanded, with Smokescreen next to him as Elita, Bumblebee and the remaining Autobot soldiers aimed their weapons at them.

"What?! How have they escaped from the prison block?" Knock Out asked.

"No matter. We'll take them inside again." Axer said he, Starscream and Stinger advanced toward them while the other Decepticons readied their weapons.

"Not so fast, Screamer." Bumblebee warned showing that he was holding the Immobilizer.

That forced everyone to stop.

"Funny how the Immobilizer can freeze Cons in their tracks, before it's activated." Elita admired.

"And in case you're wondering Kickback is in no position to come to your rescue right now." Smokescreen added showing that he now had the phase shifter on his wrist.

Speaking of Kickback, he was stuck on the wall right in the same ridiculous position Smokescreen was before.

"Scrap."

Far from there, Predaking was flying toward his refuge, just when the other Predacons were still.

"Guys, look! One of us."

"Indeed, Darksteel. Most likely our predecessor." Skylynx deduced.

"I never thought we would get to know him." Ripclaw said surprised.

Predaking landed and returned to robot form, but he showed horror on his eyes for what he saw.

"The burial ground…desecrated. Strip-mined of all that remained of our ancestors." Predaking observed in disbelief.

Darksteel laughed. "He should've been here to see them rise and shine."

"They live?" Predaking asked.

"If you call being undead living." Ripclaw corrected.

"Dark magic. Perpetrated by the demon who lives in Optimus's skin." Predaking deduced.

"Just be glad you're alive, so the demon can't pull your strings." Skylynx added.

"Do you not comprehend the scope of this tragedy? We four are proof that our mighty race might once again have flourished. Their remains must be reclaimed, if for no other reason then to be properly laid back to rest." Predaking explained.

"Mm, he is wiser than any of us and his words sounds noble. Maybe we should help him." Ripclaw expressed amazed.

"And who made you boss?" Darksteel asked a little irritated.

"I am not your boss. I am your king!" Predaking corrected, glaring at them preparing his claws.

At the same time…

"Nah, they won't use it." Breakdown started. "They need us if they are gonna stand any chance of surviving Unicron."

"You misunderstand. We don't intend to use this warship for battle, but for quickly getting as far as possible from this doomed planet." Elita corrected.

"Earth would be nice now that Unicron no longer seems to be calling it home." Smokescreen suggested.

"Nobody has asked for your opinion!" Elita snapped to him.

"Now, move away from the controls, Breakdown, or get stiff." Grimlock threatened.

"There's one thing you overlooked, Bee. That device you're holding? Not the Immobilizer." Stinger lied.

Fortunately Bumblebee believed him. "What?! What do you mean?"

Starscream nodded to Stinger. "Now!"

Stinger took advantage and tried to grab the device, so he and Bumblebee struggled for it. Meanwhile, Starscream, Slipstream and Axer fired a storm of missiles against Grimlock, so he was forced to cover himself behind his shield, as the other Decepticons fired their weapons at the Autobots soldiers, eliminating them one by one as Smokescreen hunkered down.

"Don't get intimidated! You're an Elite Guard soldier, stand up!" Elita ordered as she fired her weapons.

But immediately Brimstone grabbed her with his Pteranodon claws and allowed Knock Out to stun her with his staff. Stinger managed to knock Bumblebee's head, taking him down. But then Grimlock grabbed him.

"I will silence you forever!" The Dinobot groaned.

But then a servo phased through Grimlock's chassis and snatched the device from Stinger. And just when Grimlock turned around, Smokescreen smashed the device across Grimlock's face, sending the Dinobot to the ground unconscious. But he also shattered the device.

"Now you are really going to believe that I want to be in your side?" Smokescreen asked.

"Smokescreen, we needed that!" Starscream groaned.

"Haha, just like Ratchet. Wait. It really was the Immobilizer?" He asked nervous.

Back with the Predacons, Skylynx and Darksteel didn't like the idea of Predaking being the one who speaks to them what to do, so they decided to battle him. Ripclaw didn't want to get involved in their fight, but she also didn't want them to fight. Predaking, by his way, accepted their challenge. Darksteel tried to push him back, but Predaking smashed both hands on him before pushing him back. Darksteel was thrown to the ground, but he smirked seeing Skylynx flying at Predaking from behind. Skylynx managed to grab and smash Predaking against the floor until they approached to a rock. Once there, Skylynx left Predaking to smash to the rock, and next he grabbed his arms as Darksteel approached to him in dragon form. But Predaking managed to push Skylynx and slamming him into Darksteel, sending them both flying a few meters. Predaking took the chance and changed to dragon form advancing toward them, they got up but Predaking already rammed into them. Skylynx managed to jump on top of him as Predaking grabbed Darksteel with his jaws and threw him away, next he grabbed Skylynx's tail and threw him down. Both Predacons charged at him, but Predaking pushed them against the ground and roared at them with fire ready to launch from his mouth. As result, both Predacons returned to robot form.

"All hail, Predaking." Darksteel accepted, defeated.

They turned to see Ripclaw clapping. "That was an impressive match, I admit. But now we all are in the same side, so why no using our might where it is most needed?"

Back to the Ark, Flamewar, Kickback, Brimstone and Smokescreen tossed Grimlock, Bumblebee and Elita One into the prison block. Bumblebee was still unconscious while Elita and the Dinobot looked at them defeated. Smokescreen cleaned his hands before he left with the Decepticons and the door closed.

"Traitor." Elita groaned.

"Fine! I hope Unicron destroys you first!" Grimlock shouted mad.

As they walked back to the bridge…

"Why'd you do it, Smokescreen? Why'd you turn against them?" Flamewar asked interested.

"Even if I had helped them seize this ship they would have probably forced me to return to be their errand boy. Oh, and because Grimlock's a brute, Bee tried to make fun of me before and Elita is now bossy. But you guys seem to support each other, value your efforts and even offer a second chance like with the two Star Seekers. That's just what I wanted when I joined this ship's crew."

"Well, you set us free at the first place. So welcome to the Decepticons." Brimstone congratulated.

They finally arrived to the bridge, where the other Decepticons were.

"Are we there yet?" Kickback asked.

"Right on schedule." Slipstream answered.

"And so is Unicron." Starscream noticed.

Unicron's undead army was approaching the well when suddenly the Ark fired all its weapons. After the impacts disposed of some of the creatures, the ship turned passed above them in order to turn around.

"Resistance." Optimus/Unicron groaned.

"From my own warship." Optimus smiled.

" **Demon hordes, take flight…** "

"…and eviscerate them!" Optimus/Unicron ordered.

The undead Predacons ascended right toward the Ark, the same as it. The ship started to fire all its weapons, destroying all the Predacons it hit, but soon the horde was able to surround the warship.

"Perhaps the other's idea was not so bad." Smokescreen said a little nervous, then one of the monsters slammed against the window and roared. "Zombiebot! Zombiebot!" He yelled pulling out his weapons after falling back as Stinger and Kickback stood in front of him.

But before the creature could launch fire a fire beam took it down. More fire beams destroyed more of the undead army.

"It seems we have backup." Axer spotted.

"Is it Galvatronus?" Airachnid asked.

Once they saw clearly, they saw the four Predacons flying and firing at their undead relatives.

"Predaking." Starscream corrected.

Optimus/Unicron saw them too as they continued attacking his army.

"More flying pests!" He said.

"Who to root for? The lines have certainly blurred." Optimus said.

Back inside the Ark's bridge…

"Predacon allies. You called it Sting. And to think that for a moment I thought Galvatronus was going to name me leader." Kickback said.

That left Stinger without words, while Starscream was shocked. "Whoa. What?!"

"Yeah, I said it. But right place, right time doesn't mean right Con. I know that now." Kickback admitted.

The Predacons continued taking down undead Predacons, but they were too many. They even managed to hit the Ark with their own fire shots. That caused a huge explosion that made the ship to descend. The Autobots felt that too inside their room, even it made them felt.

"We've being hit!" Knock Out announced. "Now I know what was missing from this ship: deflecting shields!"

"Brace for impact!" Breakdown warned.

Everyone prepared for the impact. The warship hit the ground and started shaking towards the well. Fortunately it stopped when it was about to reach the edge.

"Ugh, is everyone okay?" Starscream asked while he helped his sister.

"Yeah. I guess we are fortunate that this ship could take the beating." Smokescreen said.

"Unfortunately it is now useless." Knock Out observed.

"So it is up to us now." Starscream declared as the Decepticons got back to their feet a little dizzy.

The Autobots felt the impact too. But also heard a cracking noise coming from the door, which looked damaged.

"What just happened?" Bumblebee asked.

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out what it was. But it seems that thanks to that we now have our way out." Grimlock said as he started breaking the door, making his way out.

From the outside a lot of flames covered the warship. It was official, the Ark was finished. Once they exited the ship, the Decepticons saw Unicron's army advancing toward them, and the Predacons transformed and landed right behind. Optimus/Unicron stood in front of his army.

"My legion, the time is upon us. Destroy Primus with your dragon fire!"

Everyone saw the undead army charging at them.

"We're the last line of defense." Stinger said.

"I would recommend leaving that to those more suited for the task." Predaking started. "Skylynx, Darksteel, Ripclaw, allow nothing to enter the well!"

All the Predacons transformed and charged against the army, which merged into a huge purple flying mass. The Predacons launched a few fireballs, stopping the horde advance, but it only worked for a few seconds. One by one, the Predacons fired large beams of fire against the horde, holding them. But at the end there were too many undead to deal with, and ended carrying the Predacons even when it flew inside the well.

"Really? This is how it ends?" Breakdown asked worried.

"We're not losing our planet. Not without taking Unicron with it." Starscream encouraged looking at their opponent.

Suddenly Optimus/Unicron froze. "What? A familiar resonance. Pure energy, not unlike Primus."

" **One I have not encountered since ancient days.** "

Then he realized. "The Allspark!"

Then he saw the ship Galvatronus and Astraea took to search for the Allspark, the reason why he felt it. The Decepticons also spotted the ship, which made them happy.

"Galvatronus." Knock Out recognized.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see that big rig!" Smokescreen confessed.

Inside the ship…

"We must keep the Allspark from Unicron's reach." Galvatronus instructed.

"I thought the container was indestructible." Astraea said.

"Indeed. But if this vessel once trapped the Allspark, I fear that it can also be emptied of it."

The ship's ramp opened, and Galvatronus was ready to engage Unicron.

"So the true Prime returns." Optimus/Unicron saw as he summoned another dark energon lance.

Galvatronus activated his jet-pack and flew right towards the chaos bringer. But he already threw the lance before the Decepticon leader reached him, hitting one of the ship's engines. That caused it to crash land.

"Astraea!" Breakdown shouted worried.

"Let's go buddy!" Knock Out said.

Breakdown, Knock Out transformed and drove right at the ship to check how Astraea was, accompanied by Flamewar. The other Decepticons stayed, watching Galvatronus punching Optimus/Unicron hard and kicking him backwards.

"Thank you, Prime. For delivering the Allspark, so that I may erase it from existence." Optimus/Unicron thanked.

"Not while I stand before you, Unicron."

Both opponents charged against the other and prepared their fists. Galvatronus received a punch on his face and Optimus/Unicron received an uppercut. Galvatronus recovered first and continue striking his rival.

"Optimus, you and I once united to save a world from Unicron! We must do so again!" Galvatronus called as he continued punching him.

"Optimus may hear you." Optimus/Unicron revealed while he received another punch. "But he cannot help you!"

Inside Optimus, he continued being tortured by Unicron's energy.

" **For he is enduring eternal suffering.** " Unicron smirked.

Galvatronus jumped and hit Optimus/Unicron hard, but he summoned a giant hammer of dark energon and hit Galvatronus hard, taking him down.

"Your efforts to protect Cybertron's most sacred relic are futile! My legion is within reach of Primus, your planet's very core. And we both know that the Allspark cannot thrive in a poisoned well." Optimus/Unicron said as he prepared his hammer to execute Galvatronus.

"Oh no, you don't!" Starscream shouted jumped on top of Optimus/Unicron and started trying to nail his claws on him.

But he was not the only one who decided to engage Unicron. Airachnid fired her webs at his back, Slipstream grabbed him with her whips and sent electricity, and Stinger sent a magnetic beam with the polarity gauntlet. Optimus/Unicron tried to smash Galvatronus with the hammer, but the Decepticons' effort managed to hold him on the ground, even made some parts of the floor to crack.

"You're sure the polarity gauntlet is going to handle someone of his might?" Smokescreen asked.

"We're just going to figure it out." Brimstone answered.

"My liege, go!" Starscream yelled while he held Optimus/Unicron, enduring the electricity.

"Save the Allspark!" Stinger added.

Galvatronus changed to vehicle form and flew to the crashed ship, just where Breakdown, Knock Out and Flamewar were helping Astraea.

"I've been worse." Astraea growled, and then Galvatronus transformed and landed in front of them. "So how are we gonna get that thing to safety?"

"By the only means available to us under these most dire of circumstances. The very survival of our species upon this or any world depends upon it." Galvatronus answered.

The Decepticons managed to hold Optimus/Unicron for a while, but he finally managed to push Stinger, Airachnid, Slipstream and Starscream hard enough to send them flying forwards and over his helm, and crashing back into the ground. Smokescreen, Axer and Kickback fired at Optimus/Unicron, but he already summoned one dark energon super cannon. But before he fired, Brimstone pulled out the force field generator and created an energy wall that blocked the shot.

"Kickback, above me, now!" Brimstone called.

The Insecticon climbed on Brimstone's shoulders and unleashed a storm of laser shots from all his legs. That made Optimus/Unicron to cover himself, until he fired his cannon at the wall. The shot didn't destroy the energy wall, but the shock wave took the Decepticons down. Next Optimus/Unicron changed to vehicle form and took flight right where Galvatronus went. Galvatronus was in robot form flying with his jet-pack and carrying the Allspark's container, and speeded up once he saw Optimus/Unicron following him, but the former Autobot leader's new vehicle form fired two huge dark energon shots that hit Galvatronus's jet-pack, forcing him to crash land. Galvatronus groaned in pain as Optimus/Unicron changed to robot form and walked toward him, and managed to take the container from him. The Decepticons witnessed in horror how the chaos bringer seemed to win.

"I shall devour your Allspark whole!" Optimus/Unicron said, but when he opened it had nothing inside. "What?! A trick!"

Suddenly a shock wave of bright blue washed him and he started to glow purple. The glow around Optimus/Unicron suddenly shot upwards and shot into the container while screams sounded, probably Unicron's. Right at the same moment, just when the undead Predacon army was about to reach Primus's spark, they stopped and disintegrated in dust. The Predacons spotted that. Besides that, some parts of Optimus/Unicron's body started to disintegrate too, leaving Optimus's body just like when before he died, which collapsed to the ground. Galvatronus grabbed the container, which now had what looked like Unicron himself inside screaming in agony.

"As a being comprised of pure energy, Unicron's Anti-Spark was vulnerable to this reliquary of the Primes." Galvatronus explained as the other Decepticons gathered around him.

"But if he's in there, where…?" Kickback started.

"Praise the Allspark!" Bumblebee shouted approaching in vehicle form, alongside Grimlock and Elita One.

The Autobots returned to robot form once they arrived next to their leader, who started to get up.

"Dear! You're alive!" Elita said happy, seeing that her sparkmate's eyes were back to be red.

"Indeed." Optimus answered, checking that he had returned to normal.

"Now that you have returned back to yourself we can continue our path to success." Bee started.

"Together we will reunite all Autobots and once again grind Cybertron under your mighty heel." Grimlock proclaimed.

"No!" Optimus snarled, surprising everyone.

"What? Why?" Bumblebee asked confused.

Optimus walked a few steps until he looked at Galvatronus.

"Because I now know the true meaning of oppression. And have thus lost my taste for inflicting it." Optimus explained.

Galvatronus was surprised of what he was witnessing: Optimus redeemed himself.

"But Optimus…"

"No Elita." Optimus interrupted. "That's not my name. My true name is and always has been Orion Pax. I've finally realized that I was never destined to be a Prime, and I did a lot of horrible things believing that I was doing them for Cybertron's wellbeing. It is that the reason that I cannot stay on our home, or Earth, not even in any place visited by any of our kind. So I will exile myself, far away from our home planet. I do not know when I'll get back, but I do know that it will be when I manage to clear my thoughts. So I ask you to, during that time, have patience." He expressed sad, even turned his head aside.

But Elita touched his face with her hand. "Orion, I don't care about the Autobot cause anymore. During these days I only wished for being able to see you once again from the Allspark, but when Unicron showed as you I felt like I could never see you again. And now that you're back, I don't want to think about the war, the ancient rivals or the future, I just only want to stay with you. Even if I had to follow you through the entire universe. Because you're the most important thing for me, Orion. You always have been."

Orion smiled, knowing what she was meaning.

"Thank you, Ariel." Orion said, before he looked at the other Autobots, still confused.

"You've clearly been traumatized, master."

"Yes, listen to Bumblebee. I'm sure a good power down and a stroll around the smelting pit will put you back in touch with your inner warlord." Grimlock suggested.

"Enough! The Autobots are no more, and that's my final decision."

With everything said, Orion Pax activated his jet-pack and took flight, followed by his sparkmate who changed to vehicle mode and went with him. The two former Autobot leaders headed outside Cybertron. Bumblebee and Grimlock remained without words.

"So, what about you?" Smokescreen asked, snapping out the two Autobots.

"Well, we all have plenty to think about." Bee simply answered.

"Yes. A lot." Grimlock added.

The two Autobots transformed and left the place. Grimlock and Bumblebee decided to go back to Decagon.

"Now what?" Bumblebee asked confused. "Without our leader there's nothing worthy to fight for."

"You know? This is not quite how I envisioned my rise to the throne, but since Optimus Prime all but surrendered it to me I will gladly revive the Autobots in my name." Grimlock proclaimed.

Bee sighed. "I guess it's better than nothing. Wait a minute, already planned? Don't tell me you're going to return to that of All Hail King Grimlock! And I thought that you had already changed."

"Let's say an old friend reminded me what it's like to be a Dinobot."

"Yeah, clearly. Unfortunately for you, your highness, this Autobot remains loyal to the true faction." Bee discussed.

"I would not be so relaxed if I were you." Grimlock said pointing at behind him.

Then Bumblebee heard a sound of beating wings behind them. He turned and gasped surprised seen the four Predacons landing in front of him.

"Perhaps a throne is more befitting for an actual king." Bee said nervous.

Predaking returned to robot form. "I am not here to seize thrones, Bumblebee." He said as the other Predacons advanced menacingly towards the Autobot scout. "But to settle scores."

"Grimlock, a little help here?" Bee asked.

"Why? You found this by yourself." The Dinobot answered.

"Exactly. Ripclaw told me that you were the only Autobot that did not tortured her and the other Predacons when they were under your command, and that you even fought alongside them in a temporally leadership." Predaking said as Bumblebee was forced to enter Decagon, with Darksteel and Skylynx after him. "So, do you want to resume our unfinished match?" He asked smiling.

"It will be my pleasure, my friend." Grimlock answered, smiling him back.

Both Dinobot and Predacon leaders turned to their beast forms and charged against the other one roaring. Back to the well, as the sun was rising, all the Decepticons, including the Nemesis, gathered in front of their leader, who stood above a higher platform.

"In order to both protect the Allspark and secure Unicron's defeat, it was necessary for me to empty the vessel's contents." Galvatronus said.

"Into where?" Knock Out asked.

"The Matrix of Leadership." Galvatronus answered, looking his chest. "As such, my own spark can no longer be separated from the multitude of others within me."

"Are you telling us, that you are now, one with the Allspark?" Airachnid asked, fearing the worst.

"That's what you say when someone kicks the…" Axer started, but he stopped when he realized what his leader was meaning.

"To not return the Allspark to the well would be to prevent future generations of new life from existing on Cybertron. My quest must be completed." Galvatronus said.

"Galvatronus, we didn't return to save a life only to lose the one we care most about! Our best friend!" Shockwave protested affected.

"We have restored planets. We'll find a way to save you!" Soundwave added affected as well.

"We can turn to Vector Sigma, just like we did before!" Starscream suggested.

"Because the matrix must now be relinquished with the Allspark it cannot be restored, or passed down to another. But while this very well mark the end of the age of Primes, leadership can be earned with or without the matrix. And in my view, you have each acted as a Prime." Galvatronus said looking at everyone.

"Well, I've never really had the best role models. Actually all this time I've been with the wrong one." Smokescreen murmured grateful.

"As even Orion has demonstrated on this day, every sentient being possesses the capacity for change." Galvatronus said before he prepared his jet-pack. But before his last departure, he gave a last look to his team. "I ask only this of you, fellow Decepticons. Keep fighting the noblest of fights."

"You can count on us to keep the peace." Stinger assured.

Galvatronus smiled at them before he took flight and went inside the well, heading right into the core. Once he was getting close, he opened his chest to show the Matrix of Leadership.

"Above all, do not lament my absence."

Galvatronus finally reached to Primus's spark, joining with him.

"For in my spark, I know that this is not the end."

Once he joined with Primus, a lot of new sparks, of all kinds of colors, came out from the well and spread across all Cybertron. The Decepticons were amazed by the entire spectacle.

"But merely a new beginning."

Then a spark appeared in front of them. Everyone managed to recognize that as no one else that Galvatronus Prime's spark.

"Simply put, another transformation."


End file.
